Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Social Media Marketing Spending Spirals Up

When you start hearing about social media taking up more budget rather than having to struggle for dollars and attention, it's clear that the practice is gaining in legitimacy.

Remember the days of having to gently introduce the concept, or of having to prove that in fact it's something that's a coming trend? We had to deal with skeptics - the same type of people, who maybe less than 10 years ago, doubted that the Internet was going to catch on. And we've had to deal with a struggling economy and limited funding.

Things are a little different now. In fact, you might say that things are actually looking up. I think part of it may be that the tough economy forced marketers to be more savvy and frugal about their efforts, and social media became a natural receptacle for the underfunded. As such, it's grown in stature and maturity, and with the rise of the awareness of social networks in the general public, it's only going to get larger.

Here are a couple of charts from "The CMO Survey" undertaken by the Duke University Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association, as reported by eMarketer:

Social Media Marketing Spending by US B2B and B2C Marketers, August 2009 & February 2010 (% of total) Percent of Marketing Budget Spent on Social Media According to US Marketers, August 2009 & February 2010 (% of total)

When you compare the spending on social media marketing from August 2009 to February 2010, overall there's an increase of 60% in the budgets (from 3.5% to 5.6%). Similarly, the planning for the next one to five years shows a similar level of consideration as well: in August 2009, social media spending was thought to be 6.1% for the next year and 13.7% for the next five years; and now, it's more like 9.9% in the next year and 17.7% in the next five years.

And since this was a survey of CMOs, it's a good indication that these budget predictions may get some traction, rather than just being a fond wish of pundits. It's a relief to see something that doesn't resemble a death spiral in this economy.

Photo credit: emrank (Flickr)

Posted via web from The Full Monty

Labels: Marketing, social media, trends

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:36 AM

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Sunday, January 24, 2010

2010 Digital Marketing Outlook

The Society of Digital Agencies - a group that serves as a worldwide voice of digital marketing professionals with a mission to advance the industry through best practices, education, and advocacy - recently sent me the results of a large survey they conducted. SoDA solicited feedback from over 1,000 digital marketing executives from agency and client-side worldwide and captured some solid insights worth sharing here.

There is no question that digital marketing continues its upward trend. Certainly, when a company like Ford - from the historically lethargic automotive industry - spends 25% of our marketing budget on digital and social media, you know there's a significant movement afoot. And across all industries in 2009, budgets were impacted by the economy, forcing marketers to be more ruthless about seeking efficient results. It should be no surprise to anyone that the rise of digital is a sure thing.

The 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook contains some 70 pages of particularly poignant facts for the U.S. and abroad (Russia, South America and Mexico), emerging trends, changing platforms, social media and more. Here are some key takeaways worth calling out:

Online Marketing Spending

In 2010, two-thirds expect to spend the same or more than in 2009.
Approximately 70% plan to increase (1-30%) or significantly increase (30%+) their unpaid/earned/proprietary media.
The top priorities in 2010 will be social networks/applications and digital infrastructure.

Emerging Trends

Customer experience will be more important than ever.
Storytelling will evolve - location will become a key component; the speed at which stories are developed is crucial; and above all, emotional connections matter.
The beginning of the end of the banner ad.
Branded content syndication will replace some paid media.
40% of opportunity is mobile

Social Media

Social is becoming increasingly mobile.
Measurement will be more important than ever.
Real-time search is inextricably linked to the "statusphere."
Forms of content consumption will continue to be fractured; the nimble marketer will need to be in as many places as possible.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, I think you'll recognize a number of the themes mentioned in the report. But there's also much more - not to mention really smart - stuff in the entire report. Take a look for yourself.

Two Thousand and Ten Digital Marketing Outlook

Photo credit: Will Lion

Labels: Marketing, social media, trends

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:22 AM

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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Say It Like You Mean It

I get a lot of unsolicited email. People looking for information, people with interview requests, people who are selling things. I try to be generous with my time, but it's the last group I don't have patience for.

Let me tell you why.

If I'm trying to make a good impression and I only have a limited amount of space or time to do so, I would think it's important to have my act together. While I certainly understand and can forgive nervousness or lack of polish, when I come across sloppy errors or blatant incompetence, it's the delete file for you. I have a very limited amount of time and I need to focus meeting goals. I'll give you an example of something that put me over the edge.

An email arrived in my inbox with the subject: Targeted Emailing List

I thought: "Okay, I'm not directly responsible for email marketing, but this might be interesting for some related reason."

I was quickly disavowed of that notion when I read the body of the email, which began:

Dear Customer: [emphasis not even added - they were dumb enough to make it bold]

We are a list compiler and a dominant player in the List Business Industry with over 40 Million B2B contacts and 200 Million B2C contacts. We have all varieties of business records that come with complete contact details including working business email addresses.

Aside from the annoyance of being called "Customer," (which I'm not), the very service they're selling is "complete contact details" of 200 million contacts. I guess I didn't make it into the database.

If you're going to convince someone of your ability, please be sure you've demonstrated it effectively. Physician, heal thyself.

Have you had any similar experiences?

Photo credit: detritus

Labels: fun, Marketing

Posted by Scott Monty at 12:54 AM

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Thursday, July 02, 2009

Talk About Transparency!

When you've flown, how many times have you ignored the safety instructions? We've all heard the same boring routine over and over, and let's face it - if you don't know how to fasten a seatbelt, you probably shouldn't be flying alone.

Air New Zealand has done something to ensure they'll have your attention: they've made a safety video where the flight attendants are wearing nothing but body paint. See if you pay attention to the entire announcement now.

That's what Seth Godin would call remarkable. How is your company being remarkable - and most importantly - making it easy for people to remark about it? Air New Zealand could have kept their video locked up on their planes, but they put it on YouTube. Why? It's not like people need to watch an airline safety video at their desk. But people do have the power to tell everyone they know about this cool airline and what it's doing.

And that's how great content is spread.

Posted via web from The Full Monty

Labels: innovation, Marketing, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:02 AM

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Monday, June 22, 2009

What Matters in Most Word-of-Mouth Marketing?

We all know that people trust people like themselves the most, and that "real" friends are more influential than online contacts. But how does this shake out, exactly?

According to a recent Mintel study cited by eMarketer, people who bought a product based on a

recommendation did so based on this breakdown:

And while you'll see that bloggers make up only 5% of the recommendation source, for those of

you who have resources tied up in blogger relations programs, this is not some sky-is-falling panic to get you to halt your efforts. On the contrary, how many friends, relatives, spouses/partners do you know that have a blog or a social network presence? They're still likely to talk about it with others, both online and off.

But if you're going to be effective at tapping into word of mouth marketing (WOMM to some), you at least need to take into account the other acronym: WIIFM.

What's important to them?

I recently shared a link to an old post in which I quoted that master orator, Cicero:

If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings and speak my words.

No matter what your word of mouth tactics consist of, your content needs to resonate with the people you're trying to reach (and consequently, with their contacts). According to that same study, here are the top three things that matter when it comes to product recommendation:

It's not terribly surprising that people are currently focused on price, is it? We're always looking for a bargain. And, consistent with human nature, we want the best quality at the same time too. :-)

You would think that a clever marketer would simply drop prices and compete based on offering the lowest prices around. Some have. Others have simply shrunk their product size and left prices intact. But those tactics can only last for so long - prices can't drop to zero (or only the largest companies have the scale & leverage) and packaging can't shrink ad infinitum - and in my opinion, it develops into a spiral of decreasing expectations from your customer. It's untenable.

But let's stop and think about price for a moment and recast it in another marketing term - pricing's close cousin value. Recently, Seth Godin wrote about the value equation:

Value = Benefit / Price

What if companies focused on increasing value to the customer by increasing benefit instead of decreasing price? Indeed, if you're providing consistently high benefit, you might even be able to hold the value level high and modestly increase prices.

And that would be something worth talking about.

Labels: Marketing, WOM

Posted by Scott Monty at 5:40 PM

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Friday, May 08, 2009

Oh, Mama!

There's no question that so-called "mommy bloggers" are an interesting demographic. Recent statistics show that there are more than 36 million of them online, and they definitely wield influence in purchasing power. Which is why many companies think this community can be a key in their word of mouth efforts.

A few key facts:

Of the 36.2 million women actively participating in the blogosphere weekly as either publishers or readers, 46% -- or just over 16.5 million -- have children at home.
67% of moms online look for help making a purchasing decision.
Overall, full-time working moms use technology at the highest rates.
The cell phone is the technology used most often by moms to communicate with their kids, and 80% say it is the direct line to their child and babysitter.

But I think the notion that all mommy (or daddy) bloggers are the same is extremely shortsighted. They're just as diverse and different as any of us. And while it's tempting to think they do things in lock-step, there are many different niches and interests that can be explored - lifestyle, safety, green, frugality, parenting, sports and family issues are just a small set of the many segments you'll find.

And aside from the blogs, what are moms actually doing online? Here's a chart that breaks down the top 10 activities of moms online:

Looking at the points of transaction, it opens up an opportunity for conversation and engagement with moms on other sites & platforms as it relates to those activities. And let's not forget those cell phone statistics - busy moms are on the go and use their handheld devices more.

Image credit: Top 10 Online Activities for Moms (MarketingCharts.com)

Labels: blogging, blogs, Marketing, mobile, moms, study

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:30 AM

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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Susan Boyle Knows Something You Don't

Over the past week, the name Susan Boyle has been pegged at the top of the Trending Topics on Twitter. You can always tell when there's an item related to pop culture, current events or breaking news, because it rises to the top of Twitter's barometer of culture on http://search.twitter.com.

In this case, the name belonged to a woman who has ascended to the 15 minute throne because of a television show (in this case Britain's Got Talent), the immediacy of YouTube and an amazing talent. Rather than try to describe what's been happening, I'll let you see for yourself. Since embedding is disabled for this video you'll have to click through to see it.

When you come back, we'll talk about another equally as remarkable video.

Just about two years ago, a car phone salesman by the name of Paul Potts had a very similar story unfold on the same show. You can see that video by clicking here. I wrote about it in two posts: "Your Next Creative Genius May be Closer Than You Think" and "What I Learned From Paul Potts."

In both situations, we see something happen with the audience (and perhaps with ourselves) that seems to universally apply to human nature: there's initial skepticism, followed by awe. But ultimately, we want the underdog to win. Why? Perhaps because we can relate to a "regular" person and we like the idea of overcoming odds to be successful.

The lessons that I wrote up in the Paul Potts post also apply to Susan Boyle's situation:

Assumptions can limit your creative output
It's okay to take risks
Know your audience and connect with them on an emotional level
Exceed expectations
When we're constantly hit over the head with polished, branded, uber-cool ads, campaigns and come-ons, it's refreshing to see a down-to-earth, humble approach. It gets more attention.

But here's another thing that's going on. It's been just two years since Paul Potts made his first appearance, but the Susan Boyle phenomenon is being treated like an anomaly. How quickly we forget - the social media pundits and even the the show's judges seem to have forgotten Paul. The reality is we're overrun with the latest headlines, shockers, tragedies, personal issues and more, and things like this will always come and go. I still remember Paul, but mostly because I wrote about him before. I wonder how many others forgot?

Turning this to practical business advice (I wouldn't let you down!), do you think your company's product or service is that memorable? If a Paul Potts with 44 million views on YouTube doesn't even come to mind for the public and even the judges involved, what can you do that's going to stick with people?

Giving them a predictable, repeatable experience each time they use your product is one way - I'd say it's the price of entry. No amount of viral videos, marketing gimmicks or slick mailers are going to matter if you've got a shoddy product. But beyond what's expected, how are you exceeding expecatations, creating the "wow" factor, and still being on a level that they can identify with.

And that's the challenge, isn't it? Britain's got talent, but have you? If you don't, then go out and hire or partner with someone who does.

Maybe a Susan Boyle or a Paul Potts can help you.

Labels: customer relations, fun, Marketing, Paul Potts, Susan Boyle, Video, Viral

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:30 AM

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Saturday, April 04, 2009

Everyone's Got a Story

What's your story?

If you stop to think about it, we live our lives as a series of tales. From the beginning of human existence, we have have developed the unique ability to be storytellers, whether it was through cave paintings, the oral tradition of Homer and other epic poets, or the latest episodes of Heroes. We convey our fears, joys, grief, thrills and more through recounting where we've been, what we've seen and how we envision the world. Why?

It's one of the most basic human needs after food, shelter and love - to be heard and to be understood, and ultimately to be able to relate to others.

Everyone's got a story.

Last fall, Ford ran a contest called Mustang Stories, where we encouraged people to submit their own stories about the iconic Ford Mustang in advance of the 2010 Mustang launch. In a photo and 250 words or less, they were encouraged to share their own unique experiences with this iconic brand. The winner, selected by the community by voting on the top 25 stories, would receive a trip to the L.A. Auto Show to see the reveal of the new car, and would walk away with the car as well.

Kory Chesher, who was at the time deployed in Iraq in the U.S. Army, submitted the winning essay and photo:

It started when I was about six years old. I was in the truck with my father and we were at a stoplight. Across the road at the other light was this "car." It drew my attention away from everything else in the world. I asked my dad what it was and he simply said, "Oh, that’s a Mustang." I remember it like it was yesterday. I now know that it was a 1968 black fastback. That was almost 20 years ago. 20 years of love, addiction, obsession. 20 years of longing and desire. Now I’m a soldier in the United States Army deployed to Iraq. I spend my spare time tearing through Mustang magazines that my family and total strangers are kind hearted enough to send to me. Every opportunity I get I’m online poring through forums and pictures; studying every little tidbit of knowledge I can get my hands on; meticulously memorizing seemingly insignificant trivia. Names, dates, specs, colors, paint codes, production numbers, costs, anything, everything. A Mustang of my own wouldn’t quell this life I live; it would supercharge it. The only thing greater than a life loving Mustangs is a life with a Mustang. With a Mustang to call my own I could finally experience the pride and freedom that I have only been watching from afar. It will ignite a passion like nothing I have ever experienced. Mustangs are my one true love. I am ready to go driving now.

Who wouldn't want to give that guy a car?

Just this evening, I was on Twitter, helping a woman with vehicle choices, and unprompted, she shared her own Mustang story:

Carissa_MomIF: @ford Uh oh, now you get a story, for anniversary, got a convertible mustang rental, drove to Park City, VERY COOL, and no room for kids!

I love it when people instantaneously share like that! We got into talking about test drives, so I did a return volley and gave her a link to one of my favorite test drive stories - in this case it was the winner of the film version of the Mustang contest that Ford ran through a partnership with Filmaka.

And there on Twitter, separated by about 2,500 miles, we admitted to each other that watching that video brought tears to our eyes. The magic of storytelling and sharing a unique view of the world brought two people closer together for a moment in time. She said that she was going to share the video with her husband; I'd imagine she'll tell others about the experience as well.

Now, the cynics out there will undoubtedly be asking, "Yeah, great. But did this help Ford sell a car?" Maybe. If she got the information she was looking for in the first place and it was backed up by a warm & fuzzy feeling of sharing a moment like that, then maybe it will contribute to the sales process.

But storytelling in and of itself is not about selling; it's about connecting. Connecting with people, whether briefly or repeatedly over time, to make them feel like their time was not wasted and that they mattered enough for you to make an effort on them. If you're effective, they'll want to return the favor. And then you'll have another story to tell.

Everyone's got a story. What's yours?

Photo credit: Ford Motor Company (Flickr)

Labels: customer relations, Marketing, Twitter

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:30 AM

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Monday, March 30, 2009

Generational Marketing

As I was shaving with a disposable razor this morning - not my usual razor - I began thinking about the power of generational marketing. One way of segmenting markets is by looking at the various generations: Matures (b. 1909-1945), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1976) and Millennials/Gen Y (1977-1994). We're well aware that the Baby Boomers are the largest generation, followed by the Millennials, hence such the interest in both.

As I was using the disposable two-blade, I thought about my Gillette Mach3 Turbo razor and was reminded of how I got to use the Gillette brand in the first place. In the late 80s / early 90s, Gillette made an incredibly smart marketing move: they purchased the mailing list of the Selective Service. If you're not familiar with the Selective Service system, every male in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 25 must register, in case there's the need for a military draft.

Gillette sent their new (at the time) razor, the Sensor, to every registrant. For reference, Gillette makes more money on their blades than they do on the razor mechanism itself - it's similar to the computer printer model, in which printers are priced affordably and the cartridges are expensive. Each and every young male that registered got a free razor and set of blades from Gillette, essentially giving them the opportunity to be Gillette customers for life. I don't know what the long-term adoption rate for Gillette was, but I can guarantee you that it got more men thinking about their products than just advertising would have done.

But it got me to thinking more broadly: how many opportunities are there for marketers to really affect an entire generation? It seems like a tall order in this minute-by-minute attention-starved generation. But if it's something as simple as what Gillette did, such an experience has the potential to stick - especially since word of mouth (online and offline) can help such efforts grow.

Are there other campaigns that you know of that have affected entire generations that way? Or are there opportunities that you foresee for current brands to have this kind of impact? Drop me a comment and let's discuss it.

Photo credit: Brian Warren (Flickr)

Labels: brand, Generation Y, Marketing, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:49 AM

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Friday, January 09, 2009

Tactically Speaking

While I like to spend a lot of time reinforcing the importance of strategy, at some point, it gets down to tactics. In other words, how are you actually going to put those great ideas to work?

A recent headline from eMarketer trumpeted Marketers Eye Online Video in 2009. While that shouldn't be a surprise (I think we can all agree that this particular visual medium is advancing and will be a more important part of our ADD-affected lives on a regular basis), as usual, it's some of the associated details that interest me.

As you can see, video gets the attention of about two-thirds of marketers. Pretty significant. But more than 4 out of 10 are also eyeing social media. Not bad for a niche channel that seemed to be fighting for attention over the past couple of years.

I'm happy to see that podcasts are part of more mainstream thinking, and that marketers haven't forgotten about that bellweather, search. I'd be interested to see what the plans are with a tried-but-true methodology: email marketing.

Have you got any unusual - or perhaps even back-to-basics - plans for 2009? I'd love to hear about them.

Photo credit: dbking

Labels: Advertising, Marketing, social media, trends, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:54 AM

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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

What's Greater Than Sex?

Well, if you're a male between the ages of 18 and 34, it should be obvious: nothing. But the Internet sure comes close.

In a recent study from Break Media and Hall and Partners (which came to me via Marketing Charts), they surveyed over 500 men from 18-34 years of age, and made some interesting discoveries - not the least of which was that 69% say they can’t live without the Internet, versus just 31% for television.

That's more than a 2:1 margin of the Web over TV. Are you listening, traditional marketers? I'd suggest it's time to look at how you're spreading your media buys.

These aren't total geeks, though: 79% would rather meet a woman out on the town than online, 71% prefer "a date with a hot girl to a poker game with the boys" and - here's the definitive number - 74% would rather have sex than surf the web.

Well, okay. Maybe they are geeks - these stats merely noted what they'd prefer not what they do. And when given the choice of "sex" or "web," I wonder how many chose both? ;-)

In addition, here are some salient facts about this demographic:

63% have a smart phone and one in four use their mobile device to connect to the Web
40% use the Internet for more than 22 hours a week
36% say they can’t live without the Internet for socializing
33% say they can’t live without online entertainment
59% notice online ads
35% like ads that allow them to play a game
34% like online ads that allow them to participate in a contest

Hmm...digital marketing is looking a little more attractive now, isn't it?

And for those of you marketers looking for personality attributes that may tie to your brands, you might consider:

Conformist: Only 26% think they are trendsetters.
Responsible: Only 18% agree that having fun is more important than being responsible.
Green: 53% say they care about the environment.
Social: 49% claim to have no trouble meeting new people; 51% like to spend as much time hanging out with friends as possible; only 20% said they valued appearance over personality when it comes to attraction.
Adventuresome: 68% enjoy traveling to new places; 61% enjoy spending time outdoors.
Laid back: Only 38% say they live a fast-paced life.
Not wellness-centric: 38% claim to lead a healthy lifestyle; however 45% say their appearance is very important to them.

If you don't care as much about targeting your media spend and you want to apply the mass marketing approach and go for the majority, here's your ideal target: an outdoorsy non-chalant traveling tree hugger who doesn't care how he or his date look, as evidenced by his flabby gut.

Or, you could follow the indicators and create some engaging and shareable digital interactions that get results.

Is there anything about the above statistics that surprises you?

Photo credit: thepollen

Labels: Advertising, Marketing, television, trends

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:54 PM

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Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Please, Sir, May I Have Some More (Budget)?

Are you begging for a social media budget? Do you show up to the powers-that-be, hat in hand, and present a humbled version of yourself or your idea, nearly apologizing for asking for funding?

Don't!

While any number of marketers may think of social media as "free," the clear fact is that it does require funding - mostly around labor rather than production. There is a cost associated with social media activities, but it's far less than the money being spent on traditional media buys.

Does that mean you should think of the quality of your idea and the relevance of your budget request in a lower tier? Not at all! In fact, because of the effectiveness of some social media programs, there may be measurable results that are more significant than a newspaper ad, billboard or 30-second spot.

The forward-thinking marketers and budget directors should be open-minded enough to apply enough funding to innovative thinking - at least to test the waters. By taking a fraction of a large media buy and applying it to a social media initiative, marketers can create a disproportionate impact.

Done repeatedly, this can result in real traction for a brand. All it takes is a little bit of risk and a bit of creative thinking when it comes to budgets.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Labels: Marketing, Risk, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:29 PM

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Sunday, August 03, 2008

Advertising Age Hopelessly Stuck in the Past

I've had it with AdAge.com. Don't get me wrong - they've got great content and are always exploring trends and issues in the advertising and marketing world in the way that few other publications can or do.

But for all of the space they give to digital marketing, it's clear that they just don't get it. I suppose I can't fault them; they're a publisher that, like every other publisher these days, is concerned about revenue. But as they try to protect their position and demonstrate effectiveness to their supporters, I think AdAge is missing the bigger picture.

And just to show that I'm not using my blog to mount a snarky complaint, I'll offer some free constructive criticism in this note to AdAge:

Dear Advertising Age,

You've been the mainstay of the advertising and marketing industry for a long time - nearly 80 years, in fact. Crain Communications (which interestingly is headquartered near my new home base in Michigan) has a vast empire of publications that are respected across the globe.

But you need to loosen the reins on AdAge. Here are three ways you could make it a little more tolerable.

RSS feeds
You employ RSS feeds on your web site - bravo! But you know what? I don't find them of much use because the feeds are only partial; if I want to read the full article, I'm forced to click through to your site. Yes, I realize that this is because you want me to pay attention to all of the banner ads and interruptions you place in my way while I'm there.

But you know what? As someone who is savvy enough to use RSS feeds, I'm also savvy enough to ignore your annoying advertising - or even better - I employ a Firefox add-on that blocks them. If you just give me the option to consume your content the way I want, I guarantee I'll be a more interested / loyal reader.

Online Video
I found a pulled TV commercial that I wanted to see on your site - just a short 30-second spot, nothing more. But before I could watch it, you forced me to watch a 15-second spot about some advertiser of yours (I can't remember who) that was pitching targeted video ads. I, someone who despises pre-roll advertising, was being targeted with a pre-roll ad about targeted video. Are you getting the irony here?

Lose the video advertising. It shows a lack of respect for your readers.

Secondly, your sharing features suck. I can grab a link or send someone an email (presumably of the link), but I can't embed your video. Which is incredibly short-sighted on your part, especially since you'd think your pre-roll advertisers would want to be seen elsewhere! Give me a chance to share your content with other people who might be interested.

Power 150
Finally, this is more of a personal suggestion. If you really cared about the digital space, you'd embrace that list of the Power 150 marketing bloggers that you acquired from Todd Andrlik. A good way to start is to give the top 150 bloggers a free subscription to Advertising Age. You've already got your badge sitting on most of their blogs - free advertising - why not show us that you appreciate our service to your publication by giving us a free subscription? It's not that difficult.

It's 2008, people - get with the program. If we've learned anything, it's that you'll have more to gain by giving something away. AdAge stands stuck in the era that is more concerned with the control of its content, and as a result is stingy with its willingness to let content be free.

And it's evident from every page I see on your site, where the top links above the article are "print" "buy reprints" and "email," that you're not as concerned with current techniques. These functions are important, no doubt, but they're as antiquated as pop-up ads. Oh, and your registration process for commenting on a blog post is laughable.

AdAge, please do us all a favor and open up a little. You might find us more willing to open up to you.

Sincerely,
Scott Monty

Photo credit: Simon Davison

Labels: AdAge, Advertising, big media, Marketing, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:48 AM

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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Why I Won't Make A Viral Video for You

This is something of a public service announcement. I can't tell you how many times I've heard clients/companies say "we'd like you to make a viral video for us." As Greg Verdino would say, "I think I just threw up in my mouth a little."

People, people. It just doesn't work that way. You can't will something to be viral, any more than you can tell an author to go write a bestseller, a director to direct a blockbuster, or an 8 year-old to be a major-league ballplayer.

Virality (if there is such a term) lies in results. It means that if you've created something worthy of passing along and comment, it will be more likely to reach epic heights on YouTube or whatever other way you're choosing to measure it.

For companies looking to create the next viral video sensation, David Meerman Scott recommends creating 10-20 videos in the hopes that maybe one of them will work. If you look at the how many videos actually reach viral status, he's probably right - if not even a little conservative.

I hate to tell you, but you're probably not going to have a viral sensation on your hands. The best you can do is to create content that matters to your customers and prospects and give them the ability to share that content around.

Oh, and the image above? It's taken from the January 1973 issue of National Lampoon magazine. The original caption was "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog."

Related posts:
"A Mind-Blowing New Advertising Model"
If You're Going to Do Viral, Do It Right
Research + Entertainment = Wildly Successful Campaign
Psst! Want the Secret to Viral Marketing?

Update (7/16 at 2:45 p.m.):
This video was released by the guys at JibJab just 6 hours ago, and currently has bout 2,200 views on YouTube. I think it has qualities that will make it go viral - it's universally funny, it's topical, and you can pass it along. Let's track the numbers and see how they do over the course of the next week.

Update (7/23 at 5:10 p.m.):
It's now a week since the release of the video, and I'll let you be the judge of the results. It stands at over 517,000 views. That's already more than their video from the 2004 election, This Land.

Labels: Advertising, client, Marketing, strategy, Video, Viral

Posted by Scott Monty at 5:37 AM

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Friday, April 18, 2008

From Mundane to Engaging: How One Man Does It

A couple of weeks ago, I said that conversation was like the weather. It's ubiquitous, and marketers seem to be the only ones interested in talking or doing anything about it (while everyone else just HAS conversations).

But it got me to thinking about something we probably all take for granted, but rarely have a reason to talk about: the weather forecast itself. You probably can't count the number of times you turned on the TV in the morning to catch a glimpse of the 5-day forecast, or dialed TellMe (1-800-555-TELL) and asked for "weather," or clicked on Accuweather.com or Weather.com for your local forecast.

Local matters
In weather and in social media, local content and connections are part of what make them relevant to us. People care about the communities in which they live and invest a great deal of time, energy and money there. To wit: the Newspaper Association of America just announced that over $2 billion was spent last year on local advertising on newspaper web sites. Why? Because it's targeted, it's relevant, and it connects people to the world immediately around them. If content is king, local content is the emperor.

Now think about how you interact with some social media connections. You're likely to have a network from around the globe - whether you're an individual or a business. But the relationships that you build based on repeated interactions and sharing of content, information and insights - those are brought to the next level when you meet face to face. A sales call, a Tweetup, or a social event in your locality make the interaction even more relevant and create the opportunity for deepening the relationship.

What's the weather got to do with it?
When it comes to the weather, you're really only interested in the conditions where you live or where you're traveling. And you generally don't care how you get your information, as long as it's accurate. Sure, you may develop a one-sided "trusted" relationship with a particular weatherman, but I'll wager you don't think much about the actual presentation of the forecast - seemingly a commodity.

Well, I've got to tell you that every day in various markets on Accuweather.com, there is a remarkable weather forecast. If you haven't had the chance to see Jim Kosek in action, here's your chance. He's bringing passion and creativity to his job and in the process is taking something the boring and making it truly engaging.

What I like the most about this story is that Jim's employers have given him the license to be as crazy as he wants to be. He still does the basics of his job, but he incites viewers - for good or bad - which in turn gives Accuweather a sense of its viewership. More companies should embrace this kind of creativity - not as a gimmick, but as a natural extension of their employees' personalities - to boost morale, productivity, and marketing gold.

Have you got a story about how something mundane and ordinary has sprung to life because of a different approach? I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below.

Labels: Marketing, social media, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:01 AM

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Monday, March 17, 2008

Thank You and Welcome

I'm going to get personal on you for a bit - but with good reason, so I hope you'll bear with me. Today was a big day for me, as I was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal for the first time (that's right, I said "first time." I'll be back.)

I was interviewed about the "My ooVoo Day With" program that we at crayon developed and executed on behalf of our client, ooVoo. The resultant article, Attention, Bloggers by Shelly Banjo describes how small businesses can use nontraditional marketing methods, such as blogger outreach, to build awareness. We were very pleased that ooVoo got a nice mention.

But at the same time, I got some surprising press as well - Ms. Banjo asked me for a list of recommended reading material to complement the article that was part of the Small Business edition of today's Journal Report. I ended up with my photo included in Marketing with Social Media, along with books, podcasts and blogs that I consider to be top-notch. Click the link to see the full list and a line about why I think each is worthy of your time.

(Full disclosure: I had also included Join the Conversation, JaffeJuice and Media Bullseye in my list, but the editors removed it.)

The "thank you" I referred to in the title of the post goes to all of the friends, colleagues and connections who were kind enough to congratulate me on this bit of good fortune. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and support and I hope I'll continue to earn it.

And the "welcome" is for anyone who is happening by this blog as a result of the article. I do hope you'll consider subscribing - it's completely free. I hope you'll take the time to look around, comment, provide me feedback, join me on Twitter, and let me know what's on your mind.

While the editors only had space for 8 -10 recommendations, there are many more than could have been on there. While I feel like I follow many (too many!) such blogs out there, I'm sure there are some that I'm missing - and my blogroll needs some updating. So here's your chance to help me out: what are your favorite blogs? Leave a comment below and I'll take a look at them. Who knows? They might even end up on my blogroll or feedreader.

Labels: crayon, Marketing, ooVoo, social media, WSJ

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:50 PM

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Saturday, March 08, 2008

The Suxorz: Worst Social Media of 2007

I'm here at SXSWi - South by Southwest Interactive - in Austin, TX and I just sat in on a panel called "The Suxorz - the Worst of the Worst in Social Media Marketing for 2007."

The panelists included Charlotte Selles (brand perspective), Jeff Jarvis, Rebecca Lieb, Steve Hall, and the moderator was Henry Copeland. While this may not seem like a who's-who of the social media industry, they did come at it with a pretty broad perspective of advertisers & marketers using common sense. You'll see a number of selections that were based on poor opinions of creative execution, as well as those that don't follow good social media practice.

Here's how the session worked: each panelist nominated a campaign; after three rounds, the "winner" was selected.

Round 1

Selles: Molson asked individuals to use Facebook to share pictures of themselves using the product; the winner would get a trip for 5 to Cancun.
Lieb: Carlton Beer "big ad" video - it's just a bad ad. This is the type of ad where you remember the activity within the ad, but not the product. So much so that people didn't even get the name of the product right in some YouTube videos.
Jarvis: HP PayPerPost - mom accepts $1000 to have her kids destroy a Fuji camera in favor of HP. Got moms to use their kids as shills to make a splog. Just. Plain. Evil.
Hall: Wal-Marting Across America used a real journalist and real photographer, but set them up as simply Wal-Mart fans, traveling across America, parking their RV at Wal-Mart parking lots.

Round 1 voting: HP wins

Round 2

Selles: Rahodeb - Whole Foods CEO John Mackey uses an alias to ding detractors on forums
Jarvis: Cisco's Human Network - wrote all Cisco-related Wikipedia entries; had vloggers try to write about the Human Network. Got themselves to #2 in Google organic search.
Hall: Mentos/Diet Coke - the extension campaign that Coke undertook after the original video was not nearly as authentic and spontaneous as the first
Lieb: Vespa's corporate advertising "blog"

Round 2 voting: Cisco's Human Powered Network wins

Round 3

Lieb: Agency.com going to work for Subway - "when we roll, we roll big". Made a laughingstock of.
Hall: Target Rounders on Facebook - shhh! Don't tell anyone you're a Rounder, but be a Target fan.
Selles: Sony PSP - all I want for Christmas is a PSP. 550+ negative posts on this blog that was created by their marketing agency, but professed to be a real fan blog.
Jarvis: Giuliani campaign - he wasn't afraid of terrorists, but his MySpace page was closed to friend adds.

Round 3 voting: Subway/Agency.com wins

The winners of the three rounds were put against each other and the final winner was selected:
Hewlett Packard.

According the the panelists, some of the criteria they used in judging what qualified as a "bad" social media campaign:

Advertisers acting like asses
Out and out lying to customers
Corrupting authentic voices

Steve Hall concluded with this statement, which I think more marketers should keep in mind: "It's not hard to tell the truth; if you don't, it's just a matter of time before the public finds out." Agencies typically take the fall for the client ("the client didn't know about this") because they don't want to lose the business.

The bottom line, according to the panelists is: treat people as people, not as a mass. You'll be forgiven if you're honest with people.

What do you think? Do these campaigns represent the worst of the worst? Are there others that you might nominate? Do you think there are other criteria to consider or other lessons to be learned? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Labels: Advertising, ethics, Marketing, rules, social media, SXSW

Posted by Scott Monty at 5:22 PM

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Monday, March 03, 2008

Watch Your Frickin' Mouth

When you have kids, you naturally censor yourself when you're around them (or at least you try to - sometimes you just let an expletive slip out). But when you're in marketing, is there an obligation to keep it rated PG?

Racy ads, like some more mature prime time shows, have traditionally been reserved for after-bedtime hours. But with the advent of so many social media tools for sharing video content or photos, marketers can bet that their ads will pretty much been seen any time of the day.

The reason I bring this up is that there's a billboard campaign by the regional convenience store chain Sheetz that's created quite a stir. Evidently, a Harrisburg, PA family took a look at this billboard and balked, claiming it contained offensive language:

Having been raised in a household where the offending word was banned, I can understand how this might have ruffled a few feathers. They claim it's an approximation of another word that has an 'F' a 'C' and a 'K' in it. Whether you agree or not, you have to admit two things: (a) how pervasive foul (fowl?) language has become these days and (b) how easy it is to get more mature subjects into younger hands.

Every website that contains a signup process, whether it's a social network, newsletter, etc. typically has language asking to verify that you're 13 years of age or older. This is in cooperation with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. But when we create portable or distributable content (to say nothing of billboards), there has to be some acknowledgment that this content, however edgy it may be, could end up in the hands of an unintended minor.

While I snickered at Sarah Silverman's "I'm F*cking Matt Damon" on late-night TV, it was quickly and widely distributed over the Web within days (current count of this version: over 7.8 million views). Jimmy Kimmel came up with the rejoinder in his equally as funny/disturbing "I'm F*cking Ben Affleck" (currently at just over 4 million views). So, this content isn't remaining in the sole domain of late-night viewing.

There are always going to be sensitive eyes & ears about any variety of things. The politically-correct movement is always trying to change our phraseology so no one gets offended, but the reality is, someone is always going to be offended by something. My question is: with the ease of syndication, embedded videos, and widgetized content, is their anything we can do to minimize the exposure of tiny eyes and ears to this stuff? Or is doesn't it matter any more?

As to the above, I guess this family won't be eating chicken fricassee any time soon. At least they won't be putting with with any more Sheetz. Maybe they'll be frickin' Jimmy Kimmel...

Whoops! Can I say that here?

Labels: ethics, Marketing, news, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:59 PM

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Monday, February 25, 2008

Social Media for B2B Marketing: Don't Monkey Around

As a former classical studies major, I’m fascinated with etymology, the study of linguistics. The word that is the focus of so many marketing books – conversation – has its origins in the Latin word conversari, which means "to dwell, to keep company with." And this is entirely appropriate in the name of social media marketing, since having conversations requires spending time with people – namely, customers.

Too often in B2B marketing, we see the definition of the more personal "customer" devolve into the distant and cold "decision maker." Decision makers are relegated to the sales cycle, engaged in research and in need of information and education. The prevalent attitude seems to be that marketers develop the message and decide which information to share with decision makers. This is command and control, with unidirectional messaging at its core.

Is it any wonder then why B2B companies are slow to adopt social media as a marketing channel?

It's not that B2B customers are steering clear of social media. On the contrary, they use blogs, message boards, podcasts and online communities in their research for business solutions as well as in their personal lives. But B2B marketers don’t seem to be aware of – or worse – care about conversations that are taking place within the social media space about their brands.

Brands are being discussed, both positively and negatively; now marketers can follow the conversations and join in. Ignoring it won’t make the problem dissipate; indeed, businesses that continue to put off the decision to join the conversations will find themselves at a disadvantage.

But – to return to our etymology lesson – marketers need to spend time with their prospects and begin to embrace bidirectional conversation. A simple way to start is to listen. Keep listening. And listen some more. Take the time to explore the sites. Look around. Follow the conversations with RSS feeds.

Above all, resist the temptation to jump in until you understand the context. Businesses that attempt to harness the power of social networks or new media sites without realizing the generally accepted etiquette will find themselves unwelcome. It is only by listening and learning that B2B marketers will be able to start talking with their customers.

Note: this post originally appeared as a chapter in The Age of Conversation.

Labels: age of conversation, b2b, conversation, customer relations, Join the Conversation, Marketing, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:50 PM

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Generation Y and Your Business

Call them "Gen Y," "Millennials," "Echo Boomers," or whatever you want - just be sure you call them, because they've got something to say.

I was listening to episode 79 of HBR Ideacast, Managing Generation Y, in which Tammy Erickson, who writes the Across the Ages column for the Harvard Business Review, was interviewed. As I was listening, I realized that in addition to the baby boomers, this is a generation that is potentially going to change the way you're doing business - or at least thinking about doing business. There are implications to marketing, internal communications, social media, and organizational behavior here.

In the podcast, they referred to the "self-assured, overly emotive, text messaging" generation who are "happy to tackle the big jobs, and they'll do it with confidence." This should be welcome news to any manager's ears, but I think this should be tempered with an acute awareness of the idiosyncratic traits that this generation brings with them. Let's look at them one by one:

Impatience/Immediacy
I've often said that this is the generation that wants to be an intern on Monday and the CEO by Friday. I admire that kind of drive, but I also wrinkle my nose at the hubris that accompanies it; there seems to be a lack of willingness to put in the time and gain the experience necessary for such a role.

According to the Erickson, this is deeper than just youthful impatience; she says they're likely be impatient for their entire lives. She posits that during their formative years, Gen Y has been bombarded with inexplicable, sudden and tragic events such as 9/11, Columbine and Virginia Tech - and that they've decided that they need to live life now.

I think it goes a little deeper than that (perhaps she was limited in time on the show). Look at the way the cable news networks have evolved over the last 10-15 years. Whether it's padding their daytime programming with Iraq war I or II, the O.J. Simpson chase & trial, or the latest celebrity overdose, all of the news outlets are catering to a need (?) for more information, now. When you take this institutionalized view of news, information and service, it's not too much of a stretch to think that Gen Y is going to expect fast results in the workplace.

But at the same time, I think we need to keep in mind that this desire for results and action may come at a price: the inability to think strategically. Granted, there are very few (if any) strategic planners who are 20-somethings. But if they have this nurtured aversion to longer-term thinking, there may be trouble ahead.

Lesson: harness the impatience and drive and turn it into an opportunity to let loose their unbridled energy on training in strategic marketing.

Let Me Tell You What I Think
By and large, this generation has grown up in a peer to peer world, where they're used to openly sharing ideas and not being shy about saying what they think. Odds are that in the workplace, if they have an idea that will benefit you, they'll share it - with managers, directors, and even CEOs.

Lesson: tap into this reservoir of creativity and fresh perspective and get their input on as many facets of your business as possible.

Technology
This is the generation that€ was raised on text messaging. They look up on email as an outmoded style of communication. To them text messaging is personal, immediate, and it gets results. They can't understand why it takes us
16 emails deep in a chain to come up with a time to schedule a
conference call. To them, it's a no-brainer: text, boom, done.

In addition, TiVo, Facebook and other technologies lead them to doing things on their own time. We've been used to structure & scheduling, while they do things when time allows them to do so. Asynchronous behavior may become more prevalent.

Lesson: be open to trying out IM or presence applications in
our day-to-day lives, with internal communications, and possibly with
marketing.

Parents' Roles
Gen Y likes their parents; not surprising when these "helicopter parents" are involved in many aspects of their children's lives. While this can be incredibly annoying (and these kinds of parents should ease off, lest they tarnish their kids' reputations in the workforce), it does have one positive side effect: Gen Y has great working relationships with Boomers in the workplace.

Lesson: use this natural attraction to create strong mentoring programs between Boomers & Gen Y-ers, to share knowledge.

There is no doubt that this generation will have a huge impact on the world. They're certainly ready for us. But are we ready for them?

What do you think? How have you experienced Gen Y in the workplace, either as a Boomer, a Gen X-er, or a Gen Y-er yourself? And what do you think the answers are?

Labels: Generation Y, Marketing, strategy, trends

Posted by Scott Monty at 12:28 AM

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Friday, February 01, 2008

Does Marketing Get Social Media?

Last night, I attended an event hosted by the Boston chapter of the American Marketing Association. It was titled "The Impact of Social Media on Marketing."

The format was friendly and inviting, very much in the spirit of social media. We mixed with each other freely, connecting with old friends and meeting new ones. And we were asked a couple of questions, which we debated in small groups:

Five years from now, will "Web 2.0" (aka social media) sites be used more for traffic or building relationships?
Should companies get involved in social media now, or wait it out?

Now, aside from the sheer absurdity of thinking we'll be able to predict what the Web and marketing will look like in 5 years, it was telling that the organizers are thinking of social media in terms of traffic rather than relationship building. To anyone who is even remotely familiar with social media right now, it's clear that the social aspect (aka relationships, engagement, etc.) is at the core.

Our answers were tallied and it was interesting to see how each question resulted in a 3:1 split in favor of social media:

75% thought Web 2.0 sites would be relationship-centric
75% thought companies should get involved now

While I'm encouraged to see a majority support some of the basics behind social media, I'm concerned about that other 25%. There's really no excuse not to be involved in social media right now, even if it's about listening. But the alarming one was that they think that in 5 years traffic is going to be the metric that's central to social media. It's not even central now.

Earlier this week, I asked my Twitter followers if web site traffic even mattered for social media. Here are some of the responses:

to 99% of the people that will be paying you these days it does. (Tom Biro)
I've heard a lot of interesting thing about volume of posts and things like sentiment extraction and comment clustering (Rachel Happe)
I think it's worth looking at. But the real # that should matter is how many people are truly engaged? (Chris Wilson)
Comscore and Nielsen have metrics such as visits/minutes spent on the site per user.'engagement' is dependent on the context tho (Jamie Nathan)

And in an email exchange, Chris Brogan made the point that because so much of social media is distributed and disaggregated, we don't get the full impact of measurement - some people might be reading your feed on Facebook or never leave their RSS reader, or share your content via email.

It's definitely a challenge for social media - the notion that content should be open and distributed is in direct juxtaposition to most of our current notions about measurement. But where we are able to measure, I think my Twitter peeps have it right - it's much more about engagement and interaction than it is about traffic.

When are the other 25% of marketers going to realize that?

Labels: Marketing, measurement, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 6:25 AM

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Thursday, December 06, 2007

Is It Viral or WOM? What's the Difference?

I've been having a really interesting Twitter debate (Twitdebate?) with Christopher S. Penn and Albert Maruggi about the difference between word of mouth (WOM) and viral marketing. You can follow Chris and Albert on Twitter as well.

Albert was wondering what to call the spread of a commercial like Swear Jar and Chris chimed in with "word of mouth." I disagreed, saying there's an inherent difference between WOM and viral. I would have elaborated, but you know, 140 characters and all...

So I'm opening it up here to a larger debate. I think that WOM is a one-to-one or one-to-few methodology with an influencer asking for the listener to try / look at something. The expectation is that the listener will then start using a product or service. There's a specific call to action.

Viral, on the other hand, is much more about creating something that is dependent upon network of people to pass it along. It's a one-to-few-to-few-to-few.... model. If a campaign / site / video goes viral, it does so by virtue of being worthy of being passed along and without a specific call to action (albeit the unspoken CTA is "pass this along").

I guess I'd sum up my position as follows: WOM is tied to making people try/buy things and if done well, results in a long-term impression. Viral, on the other hand, is tied to making people pass things along and is more or about creating a quick buzz.

My Parthian shot: people create viral videos, not WOM videos.

For more information, the Internet Marketing Driver had a great post on this subject.
Update: here's a post from Seth Godin that stuck with me and influenced my position above.

So now the fun begins. What do you have to say about all of this?

Labels: Marketing, Viral, WOM

Posted by Scott Monty at 3:43 PM

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Great New Portal Hits the Spot

Chip Griffin is a visionary. He keeps churning out start-ups that are simple in concept, yet elegant in execution. Custom Scoop was an idea whose time had come - a new media clipping service, catching the best in blog and podcast content; and Cork & Knife is a e-magazine for foodies. That appeals to my inner diner.

Yesterday, he launched his latest - Media Bullseye. Put briefly, Chip publishes it "to provide media, public relations, and marketing professionals with news and commentary about the modern communications landscape." But the cool part is that it combines video, audio, feature commentary and aggregated content, presenting it all in one slick interface. And naturally, it's completely RSS-able. It's definitely worth checking out.

And here's Chip himself to tell you about his vision.

I'm honored to be one of the early contributors to the site. Joining other social media greats like Chris Brogan and Chris Thilk is an honor (I'm lucky I got in, seeing as my given name isn't Chris). We'll see if I can turn this into a regular feature.

What do you think? Is this an idea whose time has come? Any suggestions for Chip?

Labels: Chip Griffin, Chris Brogan, Chris Thilk, Marketing, Media Bullseye, PR, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 12:56 PM

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Monday, December 03, 2007

For You, and for the Children

I've been receiving Search Marketing Standard for the better part of a year - and if you don't subscribe, you should really consider doing so.

To my surprise, they've been around for a little longer that I thought; this month, they're celebrating their 2-year anniversary as a matter of fact! And as part of their celebration, they're giving a discount to readers of the Social Media Marketing Blog.

If you would like to subscribe, you can receive a 67% discount off the normal rate, bringing the U.S. cost down to just $4.95 a year! In addition, SMS will donate $1 for every new subscription to the Toys for Tots Foundation.

Just use the coupon code HOLIDAY67 when you subscribe to Search Marketing Standard between now and December 10th and you can begin receiving a top-notch publication related to search for a great price and you'll be making a difference in the lives of children for the holidays.

Labels: Marketing, news, search

Posted by Scott Monty at 12:49 AM

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Friday, November 09, 2007

How to Teach Marketers to Be Authentic

Did you ever take the time to step back and wonder about the various personas you meet online? They could be long-lost friends, bloggers that you admire, or people in your Facebook network whom you may have never met before. But what do you really know about them?

How many of these folks are truly themselves when they're online? I mean, how many are perhaps bolder in their assertions or less cautious with the language they use because of the less personal nature of the medium?

We spend a lot of time talking about authenticity as one of the tenets of social media - how businesses, brands and the people behind them need to be seen as real. There's no doubt that the masses will sniff out a fraud. But how do we guarantee them authenticity?

While you ponder that, take a look at Brad Paisley's take on it:

As recently as this week, someone in my LinkedIn network posed the following question: What disciplines should marketers be training within to ensure authenticity? My first thought, was, "You've got to be kidding, right? You want to teach authenticity?"

It reminded me of the old George Burns quote:

"Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made."

That one-liner often sums up all that is seen as wrong with and disliked about advertising, marketing and public relations - mouthing the words without actually believing what you're saying. Can you blame the public for distrusting advertisers or for thinking of public relations professionals as "spin doctors"?

Many of the other respondents to the LinkedIn question also noted that authenticity is more of a state of being rather than a skill - it's something that has to be imbued throughout one's life rather than taught as a course. Authenticity represents who we are, not what we do. And when we use marketing speak to address our audience, are we being truly authentic, or simply following a corporate protocol out of some antiquated tradition?

I say it's time to step out of those corporate roles and leave behind those traditional templates and speak to our customers as if we're real people talking to other real people. As David Ogilvy once famously said,

"The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife."

How do you learn how to be authentic with your wife? You don't learn it; you simply be yourself - that's why she picked you, right?

Ultimately, it's worth asking how do your customers or your community view you? I hope you're prepared for the answer, because we live in an age where they'll tell you and expect to be heard.

Labels: Advertising, Marketing, New Media, PR, social media, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 6:34 AM

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Psst! Want the Secret to Viral Marketing?

Viral marketing is like the weather: everyone's talking about it, but no one is doing anything about it.

You know why? Because you can't. That's right. You can't simply manufacture viral marketing. But don't tell that to some marketers. They're out there, practicing something akin to alchemy.

Think there's a science behind viral marketing? Or perhaps a secret formula? I think there's a bit of each, but they follow that famous saying by Louis Pasteur, "Chance favors the prepared mind."

While so many marketing efforts are more measurable than ever before, there are aspects to the practice that are still a combination of art and science. Good research trumps everything, but then again, so does common sense.

When it comes to "viral marketing" I think the secret sauce is simple: make it entertaining. If you know your audience, what they like and what will grab their attention, adding an entertainment angle to it (plus the ability to easily pass along the content) will make it viral. That's it. You may recall a mathematical formula I've used here before:

Research + Entertainment = Wildly Successful Campaign

That's not to say it's going to work. Odds are, it won't. But this is the formula that has to be followed, in my opinion, if you want any shot at success. You don't just upload some half-ass video to YouTube and claim you've got a viral video. The 42 people who view it may think so, but I doubt your client or manager will.

Bottom line: you need to exercise good judgment, gut instinct, have some smart research insights, and know your audience. Come to think of it, this doesn't sound that different from traditional marketing, does it?

Thanks to Rohit Bhargava for issuing the challenge on this one. I hope I can bring these and other insights to Ad:Tech.

Labels: Marketing, Rohit Bhargava, social media, strategy, Viral

Posted by Scott Monty at 10:58 PM

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Monday, September 10, 2007

Ad Age Hates Innovation

You have to wonder about the ability of the marketing profession to move forward when a mainstream medium such as Advertising Age seems dead-set against it.

Here are just three examples:

Even though they're embracing new media by offering RSS feeds, you can't read the entire posts in your feedreader. Ad Age makes you visit their site for the full content. Yes, they probably want the traffic so they can support the site with (ahem) ads, but you know what? You can run ads in feeds too, guys.
Today Jonah Bloom decided that he'd call out a small company and rant against it. In this case, he was talking about my company's recent announcement. I couldn't find any instance of him berating any other small companies, but then again, I got tired of scrolling through the archives since the Adages blog doesn't have tags.
Finally (and this one's a doozy), Mark Simon gives us his take on trends by recommending that CMOs Ditch the Lunatic Web Content Crazes in the CMO Strategy column. He particularly calls out Twitter as nothing more than a personal update application; it's clear he hasn't spent any time on it or developed a network. As the very astute Karl Long puts it:

Even more ironic this is under “CMO Strategy”, yep this is exactly the kind of advice you need if you’re a CMO, ignore new things, don’t experiment, don’t participate and your world will be simpler, safer and easier to understand.

Maybe the folks over at Ad Age don't think this whole Internet thing is going to catch on.

Labels: AdAge, Advertising, big media, Karl Long, Marketing, trends

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:26 PM

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About Scott

For hi-res, click here

The best way to describe Scott is "Renaissance Man." Friends and colleagues that know Scott from one facet of his life are very frequently surprised to learn of his interests and talents in other areas.

Scott is a marketing and communications professional focused on the digital industry — specifically on social media. His career spans a number of industries such as healthcare, pharma, biotech, travel, automotive, tech, and communications, and includes a wide range of clients, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

Currently on the staff of corporate communications in Ford Motor Company, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.

Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon and spent a number of years with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique BtoB agency specializing in health sciences & high tech.

In addition to his consulting and agency background, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog and also writes The Baker Street Blog, a literary undertaking. Scott has been featured in numerous news and business publications, on a variety of podcasts, and on national television. Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events.

Scott received his Master's in Medical Science from Boston University's School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU's Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the term "tweetup."

You may download a headshot here, courtesy of C.C. Chapman and a PDF version of Scott's bio here.

Books in which Scott's work is featured:
The New Rules of Marketing & PR
Twitterville
Six Pixels of Separation
Monkeys with Typewriters
Read This First
World Wide Rave
Get Seen

Disclosures/Relationships

Scott is on the Advisory board of SavvyAuntie
Scott is on the Advisory board of Business Smart Tools
Scott is a judge for the SAMMY Awards
Scott is on the Advisory board of The Hive Awards
Named one of iMedia's 25 Top Internet Marketing Leaders & Innovators
This blog's content is also syndicated on Social Media Today
Plaid occasionally does web work for me and designed this site
No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

Speaking Events

Scott speaks on social media at events, seminars and conferences around the world. His topic generally focuses on corporate use of social media, becoming an online spokesperson, and specifically on the progress that Ford has made in the recent past. If you're interested in booking Scott to speak at your event, please send an email to speaking [AT] scottmonty [DOT] com. Scott's bio and headshot can be found in the "About Scott" tab above.

Some previous engagements include:

BlogWell - How Big Companies Use Social Media - Minneapolis - August 13

Where to find me online

  Blip.tv
  del.icio.us
  Dopplr
  Facebook
  Flickr
  FriendFeed
  Google Reader
  hulu
  Library Thing
  Lijit
  LinkedIn
  MyBlogLog
  Reddit
  Shelfari
  SlideShare
  StumbleUpon
Technorati
  The Baker Street Blog
  The Social Media Marketing Blog
  Twine
  twitter
  upcoming
  Utterz

What I like

Scott Monty is a fan of

Ford Motor Company

Create your Fan Badge

TOOLS

  Trailfire
  MOO
  CrazyEgg
  ShareThis
  StumbleUpon
  Twitter
  Jott

The Webware 100 for 2008

BLOGS

bub.blicio.us
Mashable!
TechCrunch
Read/WriteWeb
Web Worker Daily
Lifehacker
Global Neighbourhoods
Community Guy - Jake McKee
/Message
The Engaging Brand
Web Ink Now
PR Squared
theshortestblogintheworld
How to Change the World
CatchUp Lady
WOMMA
Digital Influence Mapping Project
Logic+Emotion
[chrisbrogan.com]
Adrants
Web Strategy by Jeremiah
indexed
The Buzz Bin
Citizen Marketer 2.1
PR 2.0
Influential Interactive Marketing
The Viral Garden
Marketing Profs Daily Fix
Conversational Media Marketing
Servant of Chaos
Conversation Agent
Seth's Blog
Social Media Explorer
Six Pixels of Separation - Marketing and Communications Insights Blog and Podcast - By Mitch Joel at Twist Image
Marketing Over Coffee Marketing Podcast

Media Bullseye
Doug Haslam
Marketing Edge
gary vaynerchuk
Jaffe Juice
Copyblogger
Advertising Age - DigitalNext
The Marketing Minute
Pistachio Consulting Inc.
The Marketing Fresh Peel
The Social Organization
Greg Verdino's Marketing Blog
Church of the Customer Blog
Forrester's Marketing Blog
Twitter Facts
ThirdWay Advertising Blog
Paul Gillin's blog - Social Media and the Open Enterprise
Bryper's Blog
Social Blogworking Magazine
Note to CMO:
Citizen Marketer
Groundswell
MediaJoltz
Vlog Soup
THE AD-VOCATE
The Lonely Marketer

Podcasts

For Immediate Release
HBR IdeaCast
Knowledge@Wharton
Manager Tools
Managing the Gray
Marketing Edge
Marketing Over Coffee
Six Pixels of Separation
TrafCom News Podcast

Contact Scott

Facebook

Twitter

Who is Scott Monty?

Hi, I'm Scott. I'm the head of social media for Ford Motor Company. This is my personal blog, where I share my perspectives on social media - the convergence of marketing, advertising and PR on the Web - for marketers, agencies, the enterprise and the individual. This blog contains my personal views.