Social Media and Brands

There are certain brands I cling to.  There are certain brands everyone in this world clings to.  These brands hold a special meaning in our lives; whether its through the products practical use or not, it’s the quality of these products that keep us coming back.  Additionally, these brands and products uphold the American values and dreams.  Some of these brands include McDonald’s, Coke, Apple, and yes, even Starbucks.

Starbucks has catapulted its brand into the stratosphere of incredibility.  The way its brand support through social media has driven it to further success is remarkable.  This brand has proven its commitment to a great product and a great consumer experience.  By taking the next step and utilizing the new digital era, the brand is reaching a whole new way of thinking (and a new generation).  This new digital era is all about interacting with the brands that affect our lives the most.  By involving the consumer in the product, you create an atmosphere that is more conducive to sales and a tougher consumer commitment to the brand.

The brand of BP, on the flip side, has had to use social media to repair a damaged reputation of its brand.  After the oil spill, consumers were turned off and even disgusted by the actions BP took.  To reach out to the consumers, BP began an intense campaign utilizing social media tools to help.  One big thing, though, is BP began staking claim to keywords “Deepwater Horizon”, “Gulf of Mexico oil spill”, and “oil spill”.  They were able create a landing page that provide all the necessary information regarding BP’s actions to the environmental emergency.  On the to note, with the use of the social media tools, BP was able to start a conversation with its consumers.  The Facebook and Twitter pages allowed participation with the general public, rather than just providing a BP commentary on what was happening.  These pages include photos, videos, and a comments section (on Facebook that is) to allow for other consumers to upload their content and contribute to the ongoing conversation.

There is always an ongoing conversation with every brand on the planet.  Taking advantage of the free tools will help your company’s brand reach a new market.  By creating a Facebook Fan page, for example, you give an outlet for your consumers and potential consumers to check out the conversation.  They are able to get feedback from others who have used the company’s products or services, and upload their content that is relevant to their experience of your brand(s).  This interaction and participation is what makes these social media tools so crucial for brands to survive in this new digital age.  Creating a Twitter page takes social media to the next level.  By having a twitter page, followers can retweet content to their followers, and so forth, allowing for the spread of content at an unbelievable rate.  When before, it could take weeks or even months for millions of people to find and consumer content, now, they are able to find that same content in hours and days.

The same content is being shared in new and different ways.  You need to engage your consumers and make them a part of the development of your brand.  It’s true that they won’t have any monetary gain in the brand, but making the brand established on the values and beliefs your consumers uphold creates an atmosphere of conversation.

This conversation makes people loyal to the brands they love.  They feel included and willing to go out on a limb to spread your brand to others.  Without these incredible tools of social media, brands will simply fade, while others will be the leaders in tomorrow’s market.

Recommended Reading:

BP Oil Spill and Digital Marketing

Social Media Influence: Starbucks

Creativity, Integrity, and Adventure

 “Long live the walls we crashed through…how the kingdom lights shined just for me and you…I was screaming long live all the magic we made…and bring on all the pretenders…one day we will be remembered”

                                                            --Taylor Swift

Our lives are filled with the want to be remembered.  We strive every single day to become someone that will be remembered.  Down the road, our actions will live through those who come after us.  Without a doubt this is true, and it’s without a doubt that we have complete control over this.  It’s our reputation that lives after us, not necessarily an one particular action we did or word we spoke, but it’s our reputations and how we handled ourselves that define our lives.  Before the digital age, people struggled to live the right life and be good to those around us.  Criticism was around every corner.

Now, during the digital age, our lives have expanded onto the World Wide Web.  Our personal lives, once masked by the curtains and blinds, are now on display on our facebook pages and twitter accounts.  It’s important to note that even our beliefs and values are under scrutiny from our friends, family, and coworkers.  Our personalities and beliefs and values are defined by what we post on these sites.  With the exception of people close to us, most individuals don’t know us, so when we post something, it’s a window into us.  Every comment, every picture posted is and will always be linked to us through cyberspace; there’s no erasing it.  Once we post our feelings on the last football game or awards show, it’s there forever.  So, it would stand to reason that it’s our duty to present ourselves in the best possible light, no?

It is my belief that the most important values are creativity, integrity, and adventure.

Creativity is the backbone structure of the fiber of our beings. Integrity is the moral center of that fiber. And adventure is the glue that connects the fibers to the center.

As a natural being of creativity, I can’t imagine a world without being able to freely express myself in whatever means I choose.  With a background in performing arts, I realized during my studies that art is about freeing yourself.  By freeing myself through art, I was able to come to terms with myself and the world around me.  Despite my change in academic interests, creativity is everywhere.  Through social media tools and digital media, creativity is able to flourish in a new and different way than ever before.  The stimuli that feeds our minds on a daily basis can also feed our online reputation and presence.  For example, an actor on stage is portraying Hamlet, a very diverse character struggling to make decisions; in many ways, the actor himself is the same way.  The actor must make creative decisions in his rehearsal of the character.  How he chooses to be creative with the text is his creative choice.  If he succeeds, he’s seen as a great actor with unlimited abilities; if he fails, well, he has failed himself and his company.  It’s the same with an individual’s online reputation.  If a person posts depressing or dark content, that person will be seen as a nobody.  What you post defines who you are.  Especially to those you don’t know.  As with the actor, your posts and content you share can be creative, sharing a part of who you are as a person.

As a person, we all have some level of integrity.  Integrity is perhaps the most important value of online presence.  Our integrity stems from our ability or lack of ability to the truth.  The truth of ourselves and everyone around us is portrayed in every single post, comment, or picture uploaded online.  I always think of it this way, if we don’t want our mothers to see it, then we shouldn’t.  There is so much truth in this short statement.  From a child, the value of integrity was instilled within us to be the most important value one could possess.  We were also taught to trust people with this value.  As the digital age barrels on, these values go right on with it.  More and more communication is done through online content (through Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, etc) and just like telling our best friends the secret of a lifetime, we have to be honest to the web.  There are eyes and ears everywhere, as they say.

As these two values, creativity and integrity, come together, we have adventure.  Life is all about adventure.  We must take chances and risks.  Without adventure, we lose a sense of ourselves.  Sometimes people will lose the adventure in their lives, and in essence, a part of themselves as well.  Recently, I took a risk of moving to Nashville, TN, an adventure you could say.  There have been no regrets upon this decision and I do not foresee there will be any.  Yes, however, there may be bumps in the road; but bumps always come with an adventure.  There’s always a price to pay with taking an adventure, but in no way should we regret them.  Our adventures should inform our integrity and power our creativity.

By feeding off each other, these three values form the basis of my life up to this point.  Without taking an adventure (a risk), my integrity would not have been called into question and thus would not have powered my creativity.  Every single day I monitor the world around me and my reactions to it.  In turn, my online presence is kept in check; my online reputation mirrors my real life.  I make sure that what I post and tweet about is something I would want my mother to see.  I make sure the content is relevant to my life and important to the values I believe in.

Job Title(s) being monitored: Artist Manager, music intern

Name(s) being monitored: Jason Scott

3 Websites being monitored: Billboardbiz, Roughtstock, Country Standard Time

Recommend Listening:

Long Live-Taylor Swift

Paint it Black with Video

 Paint it Black with Digital Videos

Keeping consumers engaged in your products or services should be your biggest concern.  As with the digital age comes the video age.  Both cultures feed and thrive off of each other and shouldn’t be taken lightly.  As a multi-screen consumer, I utilize TV, internet, and mobile connections to search and share content among my family, friends, and colleagues. As I’m searching content related to my favorite products, services, and brands, one thing I noted: brands that utilize videos kept my attention.  Videos allow a product to come to life.  Beyond the simple logo and tagline, a video engages the consumer in the use of the product. 

One way or venue to utilize video marketing is Youtube.   Youtube is at the forefront of bringing the products wherever the consumer is, either at home, work, or on the go. During December of 2009, approximately 33.2 billion videos were viewed.   With that astounding numbers comes an astounding way for your company to be exposed to the masses.  For example, Dynomighty Design released their first video onto YouTube and immediately took off and reached 2.7 million views by being displayed on the front page of the site.  It’s without a doubt the amount of sales these views caused ($130,000 from a single video).

It’s certainly easier said than done to put out a video and see these kinds of results.  With that said, utilizing as many digital mediums as possible will bring in these kinds of results.  Before the digital age as we know it, companies had to rely on tv and radio ads as well as billboards along the road and word of mouth between consumers.  These companies did quite well for themselves, but imagine the results if you had these pre-digital mediums as well as a plethora of new digital tools to utilize.  From billboards to YouTube, and from flyers to Twitter and Facebook, brands are reaching a new generation in a whole new way.  This new generation won’t be satisfied with the old way of doing things, but by presenting a brand through a video, you reach them on a personal level.  You are now speaking their language.

This following video from Microsoft Advertising/Europe illustrates perfectly the new digital age and the multi-screen consumer:

Within the music industry perhaps one of the most interactive award shows is the People’s Choice Awards.  Every year, upon the release of the nominations, fans flog to the PCA site to place their votes.  Now, more than ever, part of the promotion campaign for the 2011 PCA’s relies on videos, Twitter, and mobile.  On the PCA site you can browse press conference videos, behind the scenes, red carpet and even videos form 2010 PCA’s.  Additionally, the campaign now includes a PCA application for android based phones.  As an avid music listener and mobile consumer, I’ve now downloaded the app to vote at my best convenience.  An important key about mobile consumers is convenience.  Following is a video fro the 2011 PCA campaign:

With today’s music climate comes the struggle for artists, particularly country artists, to sell physical albums.  The digital age with digital downloads is something that is certainly crucial for the success of an artist; however, physical albums are still a cornerstone for every artist wanting to make a name for themselves.  This past month saw an outstanding achievement in country music as Taylor Swift’s brand new album “Speak Now” moved in excess of 1 million units its first week.  As the release date grew nearer, I noticed such a powerfully incredible digital marketing campaign not only for the album but for Taylor herself.  Below is a Target ad for her album that certainly played an integral part in the astounding sales:

With the People’s Choice Awards video marketing, a few things caught my attention.  First and foremost, the host, Queen Latifah, made several specific comments about how the awards show was the fans’ show.  The fans through several media outlets are in control of the outcome.  By engaging and interacting with the consumers, this campaign is highly likely to succeed. Also, the video is presented in a press conference sort of way and features many household names that have won accolades and media buzz over the years.  Using names or brands that the consumers can easily identify with engages them and keeps their interest.  It is their interest and investment as media consumers that keeps this show alive.

The second campaign, more specific to country music, utilizes Taylor Swift’s brand.  Her superstar status has solidified herself as a brand within the country music and even pop music genres.  This video stems from Taylor’s likeability, youthfulness, and great songwriting skills.  Whether you, as a music consumer, agree with Taylor’s abilities as a musician or not is not the question.  The question remains whether her marketing campaign was a successful one.  Indeed it was. Bottom line: Taylor’s mass media and digital marketing campaign did what it needed to do (sell albums). Many of country music's top earning stars utilize social media tools, video, and digital marketing to reach their fans as well as make new ones.

As with any genre of music or product off the shelf, each has its own shelf life in the consumers mind.  Without including an engaging and interactive element to a product’s marketing, your company can easily be seen as something of the past.  Twitter, YouTube, Facebook Myspace are all tools you should use to get your products to old and new consumers.  Without doing this, people will simply forget you.  Make sure with your video digital marketing campaign that you paint it black with video to make sure they do remember you.

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Video: The Next Digital Marketing Frontier

Video: Integrated Digital Marketing- Don't Break it Up!

Multi-screen consumer research reveals Media Multiplier effect