Will the number of followers on twitter, or your page rank turn you into a consumer protection force in the near future?

Will companies start being extra nice to those who have social media mojo?

We think it’s happening already- and wonder if ad budgets shouldn’t be slashed and diverted to “customer satisfaction” funds instead.

Peter Shankman is a micro-brand on his own. His Twitter account (skydiver) has 19,093 followers. He publishes the “Help a reporter out” e-mail blast which reaches pr pros across the country. He has a book on PR stunts, he has a blog. He’s web 2.0 connected and plugged in.

So when he tweets about a bad customer service experience from TiVo it gets 35 comments in a few hours.

What actually happened re:@tivo this morning thatI can’t fit into a tweet: http://tinyurl.com/8houvz - S O very displeased. Feel cheated.

It may have been seen by 15,000 people. If others have also had bad experiences, they would start piling up. Back in 2006, I watched this happen on a friends site- for a bad hard disk drive. I also watched Advertising Age’s Bob Garfield launch his rant “Comcast Must Die” after a horrible customer service experience.

No matter how big or small your ad budget is, refunding $29 makes more sense than feeding a web 2.0 PR bonfire.

Bottom line, TiVo can’t afford these kinds of mistakes to normal people, never mind someone with a posse.

Here are some pieces of Web 2.0 customer service advice:

• Always have a customer service ombudsman contact for your site that is monitored 24/7 to respond immediately to potential complaints.
• Have Google Alerts set up on your product and brand name.
• Respond on the “offending” site- within the comments asap- even if it’s a “We’re looking into this”
• Admit your own mistakes on your company blog- and make sure you give credit to the customer for pointing out where you screwed up so you won’t do it again. This was Dell’s solution to the Dell Hell scenario.
• Have a company twitter account- where your fans can follow your brand.
• Make sure you have support forums on your site that are moderated and useful. There is nothing worse than having customers going to other experts to solve problems with your products or service and having the competition recommended.

It wasn’t more than 8 hours before Peter had a response from TiVo. I don’t know if my e-mail to their Investor Relations department was part of the solution, but, in it- I said I didn’t think they really wanted to make a million dollar PR blunder over a $29 refund to a previously happy customer.

While many companies used to say “the customer is always right” we believe the new adage should be “the community is always right.” Offend one, and risk offending many.

Will having a huge network make you a one person consumer rights team? We’ll see soon enough.

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Posted in: Marketing & the Web, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Web strategy

Conventional traditional paid media is dying a quick death. The old discussion of targeting consumers and buying their attention in :30 second increments is over. Twitter may be the ultimate media for the attention deficit consumer who has suffered media overload for the last 30 years. When used correctly, you can make a million with 140 characters. You just have to follow the lead of the Dell Outlet:

Out next week, but wanna welcome all the new followers based on news Dell sold $1M thru Twitter. Happy Holidays to all!

Twitter / Dell Outlet: Out next week, but wanna w ….

Releasing deals, one at a time to opt-in followers created a new way of connecting intimately with people who want to buy their products. It’s that connection that is the secret sauce of new media marketing in a web 2.0 world.

Traditional conventional media depended on repetition with a twist to keep it interesting. How many versions of “Hi, I’m a Mac, Hi, I’m a PC” have there been? If we tweeted the same message over and over, we’d have no followers in no time.

Social media requires an opt-in relationship, meaning it’s only going to last as long as you keep providing value. Many companies talk about their “commitment to the customer” but- what they need to be evolving to is a “commitment to the community.” Defining and nurturing that relationship isn’t a part-time job to hand to the intern either- just see what happens when a relationship is done right: Robert Scoble (who started at Microsoft and grew a community that would stay with him instead of M$)

Obvious communities are Apple users, Harley riders and Oprah followers. But when you look at how Nike took the solitary sport of running and turned it into a global community with their Nike+ technology, you start to see that opportunities to build community abound.

Twitter is a way to tie your company into a community in real time. Not having to wait weeks to produce an ad and get it out into the marketplace can be a powerful tool to out-maneuver your competition.

There are a couple of posts about Twitter from Rohit Bhargava of the Influential Marketing Blog:

The 5 Stages Of Twitter Acceptance

Five Stages of Twitter Acceptance by Rohit Bhargava

Influential Marketing Blog: The 5 Stages Of Twitter Acceptance.

(I’ve copied the image text into the alt text so that this searches properly and is accessible- click on the image to get his 5 stages in computer readable format.

His other post:

9 Ways To Make Twitter More Useful For You

Influential Marketing Blog: 9 Ways To Make Twitter More Useful For You.

Is well worth reading as well. The 9 ways- without their full descriptions to tease you to click on the link:

Listen to conversations in real time.

Track emotion moments.

Get link love.

Reach unreachable people.

See what’s popular/important

Introduce more people to your personal brand

Get quick answers.

Optimize your event attendance.

Read instant feedback.

There are more ways in the comments, including: build relationships with leaders in your field, track customers and competitors, but, most importantly- connect with a community.

Here is the final word on why Twitter is neither a marketing shotgun or rifle- those analogies are just as dead as the idea of conquering customers in a war for market share. You don’t buy market share, you don’t win it- you earn it, by building relationships with real people, one-on-one, in real time.

If you want to follow my thoughts on marketing- long and short, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/thenextwave.

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Posted in: 1 to 1 marketing, Apple Advertising, Marketing & the Web, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Web strategy

More than ever, the idea of keeping existing customers should be at the top of every marketers critical tasks list. Not only are new customers harder to acquire, but, they now have the power to tell all their friends when you fail to please.

If you doubt me, take a look at Amazon reviews in any consumer products category. You’ll find the most powerful reviews come from either:

1. loyal customers who have had great customer service and warranty experiences
2. customers who’ve owned your product and a competitors and have an opinion.

It’s time to pay more attention to keeping existing customers happy.

The other night I was talking over a dinner table with several happy TomTom customers. One of them had just had his TomTom die, and it was just outside of warranty. He contacted TomTom and they said they don’t repair non-warranty units.

Big mistake. The customer service person just released a previously happy customer out to the big wide world of GPS units and suggested he reevaluate the market. All of a sudden, he may think a Garmin or a Magellan is a better choice. It doesn’t take much to come across a comparison site.

For a better example of how to handle this same situation- I had a Sonicare toothbrush die on me after 5 years. I contacted Sonicare, and inquired about a new battery for my first generation model. They offered a sizable discount on a new model toothbrush- in a brown box that kept me a Sonicare user.

Yes, personal electronics may be made for replacement, but wouldn’t you rather customers replaced your product with your brand- instead of a competitors. Good marketers will take this lesson to heart and make sure their policies fall in line with what is best for their company.

It’s said that word of mouth marketing is the best of all- and yes, you can buy good word of mouth, with good warranty policies.

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Posted in: 1 to 1 marketing, Marketing & the Web, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world

At what lengths will an agency go to spend a clients hard earned money. If you are Crispin Porter + Bogusky, to Greenland, Thailand and other far away places to make a spot called “Whopper Virgins.” The concept is brilliant- do the ultimate blind taste test, find people who’ve never eaten a hamburger, and may not even know the difference between McDonalds and Burger King.

So far so good. But then after a very expensive shoot, and a brilliant, entertaining short documentary, you fail to let the world find the site online as discussed in Ad Age:

…Whopper Virgins, its latest endeavor, may be the best yet… if you can find it.

The Whopper Virgins experience begins with a TV commercial with a brief teaser that directs you to WhopperVirgins.com. … it’s running heavily during weekend football games. Go to the site and you’re treated to a video of Burger King running a Whopper vs. Big Mac taste test with people in Romania, Thailand and Greenland who have never eaten a hamburger before. It’s poignant and amusing, if you can tolerate the implicit ethnocentrism.

What if you don’t remember the exact Web address and Google it? You still better remember the domain name. While whopperVirgins.com ranks first in Google for “whopper virgins,” it’s invisible when you omit the plural.

There are three areas of neglect here:

* The domain: WhopperVirgin.com is a parked domain filled with ads for Burger King store listings, Virgin Mobile gifts, Virgin Atlantic flights, Virgin Islands vacations and Virgin Mary checks.

* Search engine optimization: The microsite doesn’t appear on the first three pages of Google results for “whopper virgin” searches.

* Paid search: While reviewing Google’s listings over several days, there hasn’t been a search ad running on “whopper virgin” queries.

This is a major missed opportunity. Google Trends shows that recently, the volume of searches for the singular and plural versions have been nearly equal. “Whopper virgin” searchers must either go to an intermediary site or refine their search. Why can’t consumers ‘have it their way’ and get to Burger King’s site even if they’re off by a letter? This multimillion-dollar branding campaign could have covered all its bases with a $10,000 search marketing investment. As it stands now, Burger King risks frustrating consumers instead of serving up one whopper of a video.

Burger King’s Whopper of a Virginal Search Slip-up - Advertising Age - DigitalNext.

We’ve been preaching the same thing, ever since Crispin did the expensive “Manthem” spot. In fact, most ad agency sites are just as oblivious to both search and accessibilty. Both of which should be critical to any client and their budget.

Before you approve a large web budget, you should first, try to google your agency. Go to www.google.com and type in: site:youragencyurl.tld like site:thenextwave.biz

If they don’t have more total results than we do, start wondering (especially if there are more than 2 commas in your budget). We’re happy to evaluate digital strategy for any one who is about to spend a gazillion dollars on an online based campaign like Whopper Virgins.

In case you want to see it- try it right here, instead of going to the site that does nothing for search.

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Posted in: Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Marketing & the Web, Search and Business, Web strategy

If you are wondering how to build brand loyalty, increase market share, improve customer satisfaction, don’t do it the HP way.

Besides having an utterly useless, overly complex website, an arcane product naming system, and a penchant for dividing up products into categories that make no sense (what is the real difference between a desktop computer for home or business?)- they absolutely don’t get customer service and support.

I’m writing this while listening to an endless loop that is about 6 minutes long- this is after I paid $39 for “support.”

Frankly, no amount of advertising can make up for a horrible support experience. Instead of paying your CEO big bucks, shareholders should demand that HP hire enough support people to handle a call in less than 2 hours (yep, that’s how long I’ve been waiting).

If you’re wondering how much HP is paying current wunderCEOkind - here is an article about his original salary package:

Incoming Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd will get a $2 million signing bonus and a $1.4 million salary for taking the helm at HP, but he stands to make far more if he can successfully boost the company’s flagging share price.

According to documents filed late Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, HP’s new CEO will receive 700,000 HP stock options and stand to earn tens of millions of dollars more as part of short-term and long-term bonus programs. The options will vest over a four-year period.

The 48-year-old executive will be given an additional 400,000 stock options and 450,000 shares of restricted stock to make up for the equity compensation he gave up when leaving NCR. The stock will vest over three years. The restricted shares alone have a value of more than $8 million.

Hurd, who became NCR’s top executive in March 2003, took home roughly $2 million in salary and bonuses last year at NCR, up from about $1.5 million the prior year, according to NCR’s most recent proxy statement.

Hurd will also be given a $2.75 million “relocation allowance” in moving from NCR’s Dayton, Ohio, headquarters.

Hefty pay package for HP’s new CEO - CNET News.

Note, when calling Apple for enterprise support for an XServe, the longest hold time was 5 minutes. They offered a call back service, and the hold music- it was contemporary, great music- further showing that the brand is hip, cool and someone I’d prefer to do business with.

What’s even worse is I’ve already identified my problem as a bad HP jetdirect card, model 615n, that has an extended warranty. It would have been cheaper for HP to immediately look up the issue on their own site, admit, they’ve failed, and send the card than put me through this hell. The $10,000 printer that I bought is just over three years old. HP has been sending me marketing materials to try to get me to trade in and up to their new model. After this experience, I’d be hard pressed to buy HP ever again, even though I’d been generally happy with this product previously.

If Mark Hurd wants to boost the share price, he needs to make sure people have good reason to buy HP products. No sales, mean no profits. Investments in technical and customer support help stop people from writing their horror stories online for all to see. Mark, consider taking a pay cut- or try answering your phones for an hour a day.

[UPDATE] 9:35 am next day- STILL ON HOLD- but, they are still sorry I’ve been waiting and will be with me as soon as possible.

[UPDATE] 19.5 hours - same loop- have used the contact form for Mark Hurd, CEO at HP. Of course, after filling out my details- they still call me a “valued customer” instead of simply personalizing using my name. Still on hold. Their products must really suck if the call volumes are that large.
[UPDATE] 10:40 called on another line- have been assured I’ll be connected to a support technician. Hung up the other call- losing my place in the queue, but, we need to actually take calls in the office. At least this is music only on the hold loop.

[UPDATE] 11:38- after another hour on the phone, they determined what I already knew- the Jetdirect 615n was at fault. However, the “extension” of 5 years for the warranty ended on Oct. 31, 2008 (even though I’d only had the printer 3 years)- and that they would be happy to sell me a new card at the discounted price of $209 if I return the defective 615n. A quick google search found it at http://www.memorysuppliers.com/ for less than $139 with overnight shipping. Of course, I could have taken this route yesterday if HP had answered their phones.

If buying an HP product, consider the horrible customer service and really worthless website that comes with their products. Apple shines in comparison.

Maybe my next large format printer will be an Epson.

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Posted in: Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world

Your business depends on the perception of value to your customers. Consumers or customers or patients or guests- whatever you choose to call the people you sell your product or service to, want to feel that they have made the right decision in hiring you to solve their problems.

When we say “Create Lust: Evoke Trust” we get down to the core of what makes people buy. They want what you have to offer because they are confident in your ability to supply what ever it is that they want. They should feel good about their purchase. They look for affirmation from others to justify their decision. Often, just a client list can instill confidence that they are dealing with a professional.

For small business, advertising has become almost cost prohibitive in these days of too many media choices, too many messages and too many options. Because advertising via mass media is almost an oxymoron, sponsored search advertising has become perceived as the only viable option for small business. I’ll define “sponsored search” for those of you new to the term: it’s having your ad appear when someone does a search on a certain keyword. Google is by far the leader in this market, and it sets it’s prices purely by auction- meaning the price of an ad depends on how much competition you have. This is very good for Google- and not very good for you.

That’s why we believe that social media (a good definition of social media can be found on the Radian6 website and on Wikipedia) and good branding are so important in this age of information overload. The Next Wave is one of the leaders in teaching social media/web 2.0 to it’s clients and to others across the country as well as one of the earliest adopters of the technology. It’s part of why we’re called “The Next Wave.”

If “fake it to make it” is really a strategy, and today, more than ever, it’s apparent that guru’s can appear from anywhere. If you want an example- just take a look at “The Evolution of Dance.” Needless to say, being able to dance your way through a meeting has taken new meaning.

Which brings us back to social media and small business. Experts are always nice to have around. If you want to grow your business, finding the right expert to solve your problem can make it much easier for you to do what you do best. Social media- or web 2.0 enabled websites (like this one- partially) allow you to demonstrate your value and knowledge to the world- and have a conversation with other people interested in your area of expertise. Building networks is still one of the secrets to getting your foot in the door- only now, the network isn’t built with closed communities (Harvard or West Point grads come to mind) but in open communities online. The more people you connect with in your field, the stronger your brand.

This video on social media has a whole bevy of people who have exploited the social media tools to build their value in the greater community. Proof positive was how easy it was to Google their names and come to a their site- on the top of the list.

We’ve even connected with a few of the people in the video- like Steve Hall from AdRants.

Their tips? Here is the search friendly run down of the six minute video:

The social opportunity
Brian Solis PR 2.0 FutureWorks
Grow communities around you by engaging them- you become an authority and influential

Rohit Bhargava- author “Personality Not Included”
Word-of-mouth and customer referrals- number one source- cheap, viral works.

Tim Ferriss- The four hour work week
Get offline to meet the people online.

Steve Hall publisher of AdRants
Reach out to  everyone in your industry 9 times out of ten there is someone else doing it- and you want to make friends with them and their friends.

Toby Bloomberg- Bloomberg Marketing
A better way for small business to scale and to grow because of relationships.

Ryan Anderson Overlay tv
Great way to bypass traditional filters and go direct to your core customer.

Darren Rowse ProBlogger
To get your content out there- join up with others to get your content out there.

David Alston- Radian6
Use social media to build a brand in a highly targeted way.

Mari Smith- success coach
Be seen everywhere- online.

Liz Strauss- successful blog
To become irrisistable- know your goal. Three kinds of visitors- readers, people who do things or offer things- and the info sources.

Paul Chaney- International Blogging and New Media Association
How to show your product being made in process- turning his business into a story – to help the customer get to know your business.

While being on Linkedin.com, facebook.com and other business social media sites, there is nothing quite like having your own site and strategy to spread your message. Once you get your potential customers to your site, looking like you have your act together is critical- and that’s where branding comes in.

We have a small confession to make: we’ve been so busy working on other sites, that we’ve let our own slip a bit- but, that’s going to be addressed soon.

For a great introduction to how the web, search and open source content managers work (the best friend of the social media pro)- we highly recommend taking our Websitetology Seminar. If you aren’t in Ohio- we can bring it to your city- just organize a development day for your professional organization and we’ll do a revenue share that will help you raise money for your organization and build your social media knowledge.

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Posted in: Ad Agenices In Dayton OH, Low budget advertising, Marketing & the Web, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Web strategy

We had a potential client come in to meet with us today. The meeting wasn’t very productive because we failed to give them a preparation checklist. Our mistake is your gain, because here is a primer for how a small business can get the most out of an ad agency interview.

Picking an advertising agency isn’t like a date, it’s more like a marriage, only the divorce can be much less painful if you plan properly. But, talking about ending the relationship before we start is not a great place to begin- or is it?

Think about your goals in this relationship? When you go into meet with an agency- are you looking for a quick fix to a business problem, or a long term partnership to build your business. We can tell you some stories about quick fixes, but, if this is what you are looking for- let the agency know in advance. The best advertising usually doesn’t come on the first attempt- or even in the first year. It takes time for the agency to learn your business- and for your business to find the right brand voice. Here are some quick things to think about when it comes to prepping for that first meeting:

Who is your competition- and what do they sound like? Bring a list of who you believe to be your competition- and samples of their advertising. Be prepared to discuss what you like or don’t like in their ads.

What makes your company different? Can you make a list of what you do differently than your competition? Can you share some client testimonials or case studies on successes that you’ve had? Differentiation is one of the most powerful tools in marketing. Think about how brands like Harley Davidson or Apple stand out from their competition. Now think about your company- is there a clear differentiation? Is this something you want the agency to help identify or amplify?

What advertising have you done already? Did it work? Do you know how you get the customers you have now? Or if you are a start-up, how do you think you’ll build a customer base? It’s not like “Field of Dreams” -build it and they will come. Please bring all the examples you have of what you’ve done- from brochures to business cards to media buys. This is the first step in establishing the foundation of the relationship.

Are there companies you would like to emulate? Do you have samples of their ads, branding etc? Mostly- this is helpful for the discussion between an agency and a start-up, but, there may be someone who wants to be the Apple of the medical devices industry for instance, where good design and ease of use are critical to their differentiation.

Know why you are meeting with that agency as opposed to the others. There are a lot of agencies out there, all of them quite different. Finding the right one for your business has to do with the size of your agency- and the size of your budget (it’s sad but true). If you are going to be a small, niche, local business- going to a global agency is probably not going to work out. Make sure you research the agency, their work, their client list- and know why you are sitting in their conference room. Don’t be shy- tell them why you like them- and even who else you plan on talking to. Advertising is a pretty small, incestuous community- more than likely, they can guess who else you’ve been talking to- and can probably recommend who you should talk to next.

Never try to cherry pick: Although it may sound like a way to save money, cherry picking some work from one agency and other stuff from another is like being a polygamist. Find a partner who can deliver on most of your needs- and then stick with them. We have a client who thinks that having one company do her graphic design, another do her web development a third do her ads and then tries to buy her printing herself is a great way to save money. What ends up happening is she spends too much time with all her vendors to get the best out of any of them.

Have clear goals for the meeting: know your budget, and what your expectations are. That way, both sides can see right away if it’s going to be mutually beneficial to work together. The last thing you want is to be a client that isn’t worth the agencies time- because you’ll get shuffled off behind other clients if you can’t pay your bills on time, or have realistic ideas about how fast the creative work will work.

Who will own the work. This is the divorce part, and sometimes pre-nups are really good to get out of the way. Many small businesses will need all kinds of print work done- from invoices to brochures. The cost of recreating the files can be prohibitive, so it may be good to stipulate up front, what will belong to you and to the agency. If you make TV spots- who will own the raw footage? Answering these questions now- can save a lot of money at the end.

Lastly- know how much time the agency is willing to donate to this first date, or if you are expected to pay for your consultation. With small budgets, it may be best to ask first how much an hour of the agency’s time is- and be willing to pay for it, you may get some of the best ideas from agencies that won’t let you hire them, but feel indebted to you and share some great thinking.

Remember, one great idea can transform a business. For Nike it was “Just do it”- for Apple it was the idea of a portable mp3 player with a new interface and an integrated music library. In your search for growing your business- remember to keep an open mind on how best to take it to market, and ask the best minds in the business for their ideas. It only takes one really good idea to make you more money than you pay the agency.

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Posted in: How to select an ad agency

The DocTrain conferences are a technical communicators think-tank- which is an odd place for an ad agency to be making a presentation- but, when you grok the importance of good support systems in delivering a memorable brand experience- it starts to make sense.

Our presentation was well attended, with heavy hitters from the corporate world and the open source community- as well as a lot of technical communicators who wanted to learn a faster way to communicate with their customers.

The Synopsis started like this:

The lines between a “Blog” and a “Website” are blurring faster than a speeding bullet, yet many business people still think blogs are platforms for personal publishing and self-expression, when in fact, they may be the most powerful tool to connect with your customers on the ‘net today.

Blogzilla: Why Blogs Are The Monster In The Business Closet - Sessions - DocTrain East 2008.

The key concept of modern technical writers could be referred to as Publishing 2.0 - where it’s critical that the content be separate from the presentation, so it can be easily updated and more importantly, delivered through multiple platforms.

The idea of structuring content- using the DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) standard is so far removed from advertising and marketing, that few ad agencies would fit in at this event- but, if you are a large marketer looking to be ubiquotious in your delivery of message, across multiple platforms, languages and culture there is really no other way to control your message.

We proposed that using a WordPress Content Management System may be one way to work quickly at responding to new issues in the marketplace as a “scratch pad” for ideas and content that needs to be refined, typed and structured for general delivery. Speed of response is absolutely critical, as is having Google think your companies site is the first place to look for information concerning your products or services.

Failure to respond instantly is no longer an option.

We saw all kinds of other really interesting applications of technology and strategies for delivery of corporate communications, more on those as the presentation decks are available.

Here is ours:

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Posted in: Future of advertising, Marketing & the Web, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world

With the latest economic crisis, the phrase “too big to fail” has been bandied about as a mantra of justification for a businesses right to exist (or be “saved”) yet, something is starting to sound inherently wrong about “economies of scale” in today’s networked market.
If there is one thing that is clear from The Long Tail, it’s that focused, niche products and services can find their customers easier and more efficiently today than ever before. Communities can pop-up almost anywhere, where like-minded consumers can meet and discuss their passions, without any intervention or support by business (such a community has popped up on this site for fans of WMMS, a rock radio station that dominated the Cleveland market in the late 70’s).
So, as we watch big banks, big car companies, the titans of Wall Street falter, the question of what will survive isn’t as important as what is the business model of the future. I’m starting to think it’s not WalMart, Best Buy, or even Target- although Target has done a better job of finding a target to market to.
It’s pretty obvious that deregulation came along with a total disregard for anti-trust as well. It was deemed anti-business to try to make sure that there was true choice in the marketplace.
The first place to really see the failures of this policy have been the very companies that fought regulation the hardest: the media giants. With deregulated markets we saw the elimination of competition in newspapers and the dumbing down of the press at the exact same time as we moved to an information economy. The answers of big business were to give us less info- at a time when people were virtually drowning in it. The same happened in TV and Radio broadcast, with an appetite for bigger audiences, the money believed the answers were bigger broad market programming, when audiences were increasingly able to pick and choose what fit them best.
The same has happened to mass-market retailers, who can easily be out-maneuvered by niche internet retailers, as long as the shipping costs aren’t too high, or the need to experience first hand a big part of the buying experience.
Even preferences in shopping experiences have changed from big malls to lifestyle centers, with big box “power centers” losing some of their appeal.
All of this points to a future that probably isn’t in the hands of the giants anymore- but to the most adroit marketers who have built a network of other symbiotic businesses to support each other. Working together as a loose network to promote unique experiences, products, services are going to not only be keys to business survival, but of communities, who can’t afford to trust those companies that are “too big to fail” yet still do.
The survival of social networks and open source development depends on the number of users/size of community that adopts the service and contributes. In business, the number of connections that are built, and the sharing of support functions like marketing- will work the same way.
The answer to success in this new economy is less about getting big, but in getting connected. Relationships are more important than ever and the best way to build your business may be by helping someone else build theirs as long as there is reciprocal behavior. Networks of independent businesses are part of the model of Amazon and EBay, two of the most successful online marketers. Google is making inroads by giving away services, software and social connections in return for relationships that can be exploited softly as time goes by.
While we’ve been teaching and preaching the benefits of Web 2.0 for several years, we’re just starting to push our clients to reach out and work together with other similar small businesses. If Goliath is going to fall, it’s because either he’s gotten so big as to miss opportunity- or that the guerrilla’s have organized to out network and out maneuver him.
Just as the transfer of electrons at almost no cost and high speed has changed the media markets, over time, some of our big cities may find that they are having a hard time competing with smaller walkable communities as gas prices rise, as people’s time becomes more valuable and our love of big loses its luster.
Yes, too big to fail now, may be the kiss of death very soon.
It’s time to think of your network and working on your niche.

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Posted in: 1 to 1 marketing, Future of advertising, Marketing & the Web, Practical Marketing 101, Retail

One of the things that separates great ad agencies from the rest, is that they are made up of “ad people” instead of “people in advertising.” True ad people, take their Friday afternoon off to go see the students who won the American Advertising Federation 2008 winners of the National Student Advertising Competition instead of drinking beer or heading home.

The OU teams planbook cover

The Next Wave was the only ad agency in attendance today when the Greater Dayton Advertising Association invited the 2008 Ohio University team who won our District- and then the national competition with their strategy on marketing AOL Instant Messenger or AIM. From the AAF site is this description of the competition:

the students conducted primary research to study AOL’s target market, including media habits and competitors. The team from Ohio University focused their initial research on how adults ages 18–24 use the AOL Instant Messenger service and its competing social networking Web sites. From there, they were able to determine their objectives and strategies to ultimately design a campaign with the goal of increasing usage by 15 percent. The overall creative strategy for Ohio University’s campaign was to add tabs to the currently existing AOL buddy list. Each tab would link directly to a different Web site, representing the new facets they wanted to add to enhance AOL’s social media capabilities, i.e. a social networking site, music, etc.

AAF-June 9, 2008

The team did some of the same things that The Next Wave does for their clients: coming up with new products or services that enhance the customer experience. Their implementation of a flexible tab bar to the familiar AIM buddy list, not only added functionality to the software service, in became a key part of the campaign tagline of “Keep your tab on _______________”

The integration between their product differentiation, their media plan and the execution strategy was well thought out and reasonable to implement, although the budget that AOL set at $25 million actually gave them too much cash to work with (considering Leo Burnett relaunched Altoids with less than half that amount).

The one thing that creeps me out about these team presentations, that I wish the NASC would stop encouraging- is the style of alternating sentences by team members into one complete canned monologue. I’ve written about this before from when I judged the district 3 year ago. If there are real agencies that do this- as opposed to allowing each expert from an agency present their part of the pitch individually, I’ll eat my kneaded eraser. Some schools even put theater majors up to present- thinking this is some kind of performance instead of a serious business presentation.

There is a complete press release by OU online which includes a informal video of the winning team discussing the process of getting this presentation together. OU were the finalists that were doing this from their club- not as a capstone course, which says even more about the strength of their concepts. Also, it means that the core presenters were all Juniors or below, leaving them room for a return visit next year. The team presenters were: Ryan Dease, Victor Rasgaitis, Liz Follet, Lauren Miller, and Katelyn Mooney. And although they forgot to bring their planbook, which counts as more of their score than the presentation in competition, their advisor, Professor Craig Davis promised he would e-mail me a PDF (thanks in advance Craig). Hopefully, he’ll allow me to publish it here too.

We took our entire office to this free event at the School of Advertising Art in Kettering, where the OU team had presented to the SAA students earlier. It’s too bad that no local school has entered the competition in past years, maybe this year will see a team from SAA. And while The Next Wave was the only agency there in strength today (only about 5 other firms were represented at all from Dayton) which is one of the reasons we believe we are an agency of ad people, not just people in advertising.

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Posted in: Careers in Advertising