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The name of the game is speed.

With the insanely rapid pace of information on social media, keeping your brand intact by responding to consumer issues ASAP, or even before they happen, is absolutely essential.

According to John Thomson, CEO of Saepio, "Whether it means pulling ads featuring a controversy-laden spokesperson, changing messaging that is offensive to certain cultures or not leading with a product that isn't performing at its best -- you need to react quickly and just as important, consistently."

Otherwise you might just catch the tiger by the tail. (Sorry!)

The full article is over at MediaPost's site.


(Photo by Keith Allison)

Since the 1990's SunChips have been Frito-Lay's healthy option for their snack line.

For years, however, the brand never really seemed to take off. In fact, sales seemed to stall over time.

Then a few years back, their brand team discovered that many of the people who buy brands like SunChips also happen to be environmentally minded. In an interview with BrandWeek, Frito-Lay VP of Marketing Gannon Jones said:

"We started to see that there was an intersection of people who were concerned with their health and with the planet's health. Out of that was born the hypothesis that we could begin to connect SunChips more prominently with the environment so [the brand would become] a small step for me and the planet."

The brand seemed to take the message to heart and remake themselves - and not just greenwash their image.

* They started producing some of their chips in a Modesto, California manufacturing plant that is completely solar powered. (It's one of their eight of their manufacturing facilities.)
* They buy green energy credits to offset the electricity to produce their snacks.
* They partnered with National Geographic to launch a "Green Effect" contest, which encouraged people to submit environmentally-friendly local projects. They would fund the winners' ideas for up to $20K each.

And, if you managed to miss their barrage of ads during the Olympics, they've just developed the compostable chip bag to be release in America on (of course) Earth Day. Yes, in a mere 14 weeks, that pesky SunChips bag in the vacant lot across the street will be dust. Or plant materials, more likely. (They've retained both Ketchum and OMD to get the word out for their compostable bag).

So, how's all this greening of their brand working out for them?

According to Frito-Lay, sales grew 17.6 percent to $201.8 million in 2008 and has tripled its household penetration in the past four years.

I don't know about you, but those sound like pretty sustainable numbers to me.
 

(Photo by cogdogblog)

So the much anticipated iPad got its unveiling yesterday and ... well, the jury's still out.

My first thought, it looks and acts like a gigantic iPhone. Which I'm not against. But there's no phone.

It works like a NetBook, but the user is stuck using Apple-approved applications. Unless, of course, you do everything on Google Docs.

And I realize a keyboard would be clunky, but I'm wondering how well the on-screen keyboard is going to work for anything other than typing emails.

LA Times writer Michael Hiltzik  speculates that, "It's hard to see the iPad as anything other than a mortal threat to Amazon.com's market-leading Kindle reader." (His article is an excellent read, if you have a moment.)

PC World also reports, "There's no multitasking in the OS at all, and not even multiple active web pages in Safari. You can't listen to Pandora while you surf the Web, or switch back and forth between Facebook at Twitter, or write a document in Pages while talking on a VOIP call."

Which is fairly disappointing.

So now that I'm done knocking it, I'll let you know there's a lot that impressed me in the video on the Apple site. For one, the enthusiasm from the people on screen who developed it. You can say they drank the Kool-Aid, or think they really are that excited about their product. (BTW, it's weird to listen to the really poppy instrumental version of The Cure's In Between Days on the video. Just kind of wrong.) The calendar application, the clear definition of The New York Times site, the email app. anhttp://blogs.aquent.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt.cgi?__mode=view&_type=entry&id=2273&blog_id=11d watching the Apple staff demo it, turn it upside down to show a picture to a friend, it makes the damn thing look pretty damn wantable.  

It makes me hopeful, you know?

Not that I'm going to be in line at the Apple store to buy one the instant they come to market.

But hey, it's Apple. I'm sure there will be no shortage of people dying to be first in line to get whatever they're selling.

Now that, my friend, is brand loyalty.


(Photo by mattbuchanan)

Post Script: Yeah, apparently Shelly Palmer over at MediaBytes isn't that impressed either. (Video rated PG for menstrual humor) 

According to BusinessWeek, Apple is looking at replacing Google with Bing as their default search engine on their iPhone.

Yes, it turns out the rivalry between "I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC" isn't as strong when it comes to Apple battling Google in the smartphone sector. According to sources at Apple, now that Google has released its Nexus One, "Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy". Moreover, "Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle."

Meaning, it's okay to battle Microsoft on one front and take them out for drinks on the other.

Which is I believe how The Hundred Years' War was fought. But then again, history has never been my strong suit.

So here's my marketing question. How does Apple exactly cover itself brandwise, here? It tells its customers that PCs stink, yet uses Bing as the search engine on their phone. How do you handle that without coming off as, um, insincere?


(photo by Incase Designs)

In late December DARPA or the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency held a challenge to help mark the 40th anniversary of the Internet (it was they who, incidentally, did actually invent the Internet).

The agency launched, simultaneously, 10 tethered large weather balloons around the US and set out this challenge: the first person or team to ID all the locations would win a $40K prize. Specifically DARPA wanted to see how social networking could be used to accomplish a "large-scale, time-critical task."

Not so surprisingly a team from MIT won it.

Get this: in fewer than 9 hours after DARPA deployed the balloons.

How did they do it?

Well, their team created a site (of course) and then promised "$2000 per balloon to the first person to send us the correct coordinates, but that's not all -- we're also giving $1000 to the person who invited them. Then we're giving $500 whoever invited the inviter, and $250 to whoever invited them, and so on..."

People communicated the locations to the MIT team and the team verified the locations.

A huge challenge in this process? False balloons and erroneous reports by sneaky opponents.

Here's a line from the team's FAQ on their site:

How do you rule out the dishonest reports of spotting the balloons?

This is one of the most interesting parts to the challenge! We will use sophisticated algorithms from the field of network science and complex systems theories along with machine learning algorithms to identify valid submissions.

When I was listening to Riley Crane from MIT talk about this study on the radio, the host asked him if this contest was held so DARPA could better locate terrorists, bad guys, etc. But Riley, and DARPA, pointed out the contest was held to better investigate the role of "wide-area team building, and urgent mobilization required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems." Think along the lines of natural disasters, missing hikers, floating balloons with supposed children in them, etc.

Marketing Manager Harish Kotadia's blog had some interesting points about the contest and what it means to folks working in Social Media Marketing.

One of these being, instead of DARPA hiring a group Social Media Pros and getting together and endlessly discussing how to accomplish how Social Networking can accomplish a large-scale task, they "designed a simple, low cost experiment... (which is) more cost-effective compared to time and travel cost of personnel figuring this out."

True. The prize was $40K for this, plus putting together a site and a team. Most likely far less expensive than flying in the Pros (then taking them to dinner, putting them up in hotels, giving them coffee, etc.)

The second, "it is important to reward not only (the) individual member for their winning contribution, but also those who brought them to the network, thereby extending (the) reach of (the) network and making Crowdsourcing a reality."

That second point reminded me of (not to plug too much here, but it's on my mind since I'm creating training around it for the company) the Rewards Program that we have.

Essentially, any Talent already working with Aquent can tell us about another person (or job opportunity) and is given points for the referral, which can then be cashed in. In the case of a Talent they've referred, the Referrer automatically gets points for the referral. Then, if that person interviews with us, more points. If that person actually gets a job through us, points accumulate every hour that person works (up to a certain number). So essentially a reward is given for just suggesting someone, but the reward is much, much greater if that referral is stellar. (The reward for the referred is obviously getting a gig.) The whole idea is based around the thought that we consistently get our best Talent as referrals from Talent we're already working with, so rewarding for that makes good sense.

I have no idea who came up with the program, but my hat is off to them, because it's seems close to what DARPA is thinking.

Not that I always agree with the military.

Any other thoughts from your social media folks out there and the applications of this in your field?

I'd Tweet this, but I'm pretty sure this is over 140 characters.

(image from DARPA Website)

You know, I have no idea what the people at am pm or their ad agency are thinking.

The small print indicates that you'll only taste the ampm burritos twice, so I guess you'll be safe with a hot dog or quesadilla.

(photo by jesthered)

We had a VERY well attended webcast. Over 1100 of you out there took time out of your day to attend (THANK YOU!), and we got a lot of questions. A few were asked repeatedly:

How  much time should I spend networking compared to applying for jobs?
Our vote is for as much time networking as possible. Since only about 10% of job seekers get hired from responding to job ads, and the vast majority get hired through referrals, spend your time trying to get referred to people who are hiring. To learn one way to get those referrals, listen to the webcast.

What's a good example of a positioning statement for a marketer?
I'm a seasoned brand manager who has worked in consumer packaged goods at Procter & Gamble and as a consultant to Fortune 100 companies.  My extensive experience in new product innovation would be an asset to companies looking for top line growth through the introduction of new-to-the-world products or line extensions.     

To learn what you do with this positioning statement, watch the webcast.

How does a marketer take a step back to a director or manager level from a VP / Director level position?
Human Resources Managers and hiring managers can be reluctant to hire someone they see as overqualified for their opening, and for two reasons. Be prepared to address these concerns:

1. you won't stay in the job when one at your "real" level pops up
2. you'll be too expensive

You can't address either of these in a resume or cover letter, and HR screeners are very likely to reject you. So focus your efforts on networking with real live people so you can talk about WHY you want to do this: maybe you're seeking better work-life balance, or maybe you want to change industries. You can address -- and allay -- their fears.

We'll answer the common social media questions raised in an upcoming post.

Did you have other questions -- or comments -- from the webcast? Post them and we'll do our best to answer!

image by Leo Reynolds

When I was at university, my all time favourite subject was Consumer Behaviour.I loved learning about the relationship between organizations, their brands and their customers.In those days though, most marketing messages were delivered via a one-way street - broadcast from company to consumer.

Today, the dynamic growth of digital channels, and in particular social media, has truly shifted the communication paradigm. Marketing as a conversation has arrived!

There's no better example of this than the recent case of Vegemite iSnack 2.0. I'm sure there isn't anyone in Australia that is unaware of this saga but for our friends elsewhere I'll give you a quick overview:

Vegemite (http://www.vegemite.com.au) is an iconic breakfast spread that has been enjoyed by Aussies since 1922.They recently decided on a brand extension, adding a Vegemite and cheese spread.As was the case when they named the original product all those years ago, they decided to choose the name of the new product through a competition. iSnack 2.0 was the winning name but it didn't resonate well with the public. (http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1101797/Backlash-kills-off-iSnack-2.0)

The new name was revealed last month during the Football (AFL) Grand final.I was enjoying the game but also had an eye on Twitter and saw an avalanche of protests appear before my very eyes. Not long after the social media uproar commenced, traditional media jumped on the bandwagon and for days the naming of this product was headline news.

This story got me thinking about a case study we had looked at in class years before. It was the Cola Wars and Coca Cola's introduction of 'New Coke' in April 1985.Coca-Cola did the unthinkable and changed their secret formula.They too received an 'instant' backlash. Consumers wrote letters of complaints (Remember them? They got delivered by snail mail). They phoned the company and talk-back radio stations and wrote letters to newspapers. The outrage was enormous!

(http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_newcoke.html) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke)

There are a lot of similarities in these two stories. One could argue that decisions were made without enough research and consultation with their customers. Anyway, both cases required a reversal of decisions made by the marketing and management teams.The difference in the stories is the speed of reaction:

- Time to change Coke back to its original formula = 3 months
- Time to change the name of Vegemite iSnack 2.0 = 3 days!

If you're a 21^st century marketer, engage in conversations with your customers! The powerbase has definitely shifted and consumers are speaking - are you listening?

PS - The new Vegemite product was renamed Vegemite Cheesybite. How was the name chosen? By an online poll :)

Tomorrow I am participating in a panel discussion with two of our very smart and accomplished Practice Directors, Tracy Sinclair, and Eric Waldinger. Our topic? Why and how you should manage your career with a personal brand. (Consider this a well-intended, semi-shameless plug.)

Your personal brand, unless you're a creative, isn't really about your identify or logo mark. It includes literally everything you do and say, how people perceive you, and what's out in the intrawebblogstweetlinkedsphere that has your name* on it. If you ARE a creative, than the look and feel and tone of your resume, etc matters a little more, sure, but all the other stuff still matters too.

(*to learn why your name can have blg implications, you should really attend the webcast. I'm tempted to give a spoiler here, but I'll save it)

If you're skeptical about this, consider how quickly you come to like, dislike or detest people on reality television and how we do this based on just a few quick scenes. Remember "The Apprentice"? I started to not like the infamous Omarosa within minutes of the first episode (apologies to members of the Omarosa Fan Club).

So, Tracy, Eric, and I will share some ideas on what you need to do to start figuring out what your brand is, and how to explain that to brand to people who can help you find your next gig, and what your brand looks like online.This is important to do if you're currently job seeking, and probably a good idea if you're happy where you are. After all, any good brand expert will tell you brand management is ongoing and constant.

And the time to start managing your personal brand? Now. Ask Omarosa what that season of the Apprentice was like. She'll agree.