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Monday, June 16, 2008

Why I'm Blue
In branding and design, color plays an important role in evoking emotions. It also plays a key role in my life - in general, as well as at crayon, where I'm fortunate enough to be called "Consigliere."

When I joined crayon, I chose Midnight Blue as my official color - I believe I explained that here previously. It's the color of my blog, of one of the many sports coats you'll see me in, and a color that tends to inspire the sort of impression from clients that a consultant wants.

According to Brain Based Biz, Blue signifies:
Confidence, travel, freedom, truth, professionalism, wealth and power. Also tranquility, dependable, acceptance, patience, understanding, cooperation, comfort, loyalty and security. It is one of the most calming colors and is associated with the sky and the sea, intelligence, reassurance, and trust.
In short, it's a traditional, conservative and corporate color.

So perhaps it should be no surprise that my corporate genes have finally gotten the better of me and I'll be leaving the startup life at crayon to join the very blue corporate ranks. In fact, I'll be joining a company that's got one of the most recognized logos in the world incorporating the color blue. Next month, I'll be joining Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), to head the social media efforts there.

My time with crayon has been rewarding as I've had the opportunity to work with some marketing and social media greats like Joseph Jaffe, Greg Verdino, C.C. Chapman, Steve Coulson, Gary Cohen, while just missing working with Shel Holz and Neville Hobson. And it's been gratifying working with clients like Coca-Cola, American Airlines, Audi, ooVoo and more, who are all experimenting with conversational marketing in one form or another.

Now I'll have the opportunity to work with another talented team of communications executives at Ford, as well as Maggie Fox and the Social Media Group, who have been so successful in launching Digital Snippets with Ford.

Of course, it means leaving the Boston area and relocating out to Dearborn. There are so many friends and colleagues that I'll be leaving behind, particularly in the social media field. Having been here for nearly 20 years, it's going to be difficult to move on. You might even say I'm feeling a little blue.

But I'm looking forward to new friends and opportunities, and the prospect of building a solid digital communications strategy from within a company, making a difference to customers, employees, partners and stakeholders. It's going to be a nice ride.

Photo credit: Financial Aid Podcast

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Friday, April 11, 2008

Doing Good with Influencer Outreach
Last week on Media Bullseye, Connie Reece wrote about the overnight success of the Frozen Pea Fund, a charity that sprang to life in response to the cancer diagnosis of fellow blogger and Twitter community member Susan Reynolds. If you haven't done so, please take a look at Connie's article, to get the full story - I couldn't possibly do it justice here.

She concluded her post by alluding to ooVoo (a client of my employer, crayon) and the promotion that we called My ooVoo Day With... In short, we asked two dozen bloggers, podcasters and authors to use ooVoo to connect with their respective communities to talk about anything they wanted to. And as a way to thank them for their valuable time, ooVoo generously agreed to give $1,500 in their names primarily to the Frozen Pea Fund (or to any charity they felt passionate about).


The event was a major success, with over 450 seats filled over the course of 10 days, resulting in some 187 blog posts about the program in the month of February, as well as 1,600 mentions of ooVoo on Twitter. Many of the posts and mentions were from participants on the chats, so our idea of using the technology to influence other influencers was borne out.

More importantly, we helped out some other great charities in the process, thanks to these hosts: Scott Sigler -$1,500 to the Disabled American Veterans; Irina Slutsky - $1,500 to Pie Ranch; C.C. Chapman - $750 to Whitney Hoffman's Ma Chen Autism School fund; David Meerman Scott - $1,500 to the Massachusetts Air & Space Museum; Karen Putz - $750 to Hands & Voices.

But the biggest news is for the Frozen Pea Fund. On Saturday night in New York City, at the famed Blogger Social, I had the honor of presenting a check from ooVoo to the Fund in the amount of $30,000 in honor of: Mitch Joel, Steve Hall, Bob Garfield, Joseph Jaffe, John Wall, iJustine, Marshall Kirkpatrick, Connie Reece, Chris Thilk, Erin Kotecki Vest, Dave Delaney, Geoff Livingston, Allan Cox, George Parker, Chris Brogan, Susan Reynolds, Laura "Pistachio" Fitton, Drew McLellan & Gavin Heaton, Robin Good, C.C. Chapman, and Karen Putz.

Photo courtesy of ck_epiphany

Susan Reynolds' husband Bill and daughter Kate were on hand to accept the check, as well as Connie Reece and Cathleen Rittereiser, two of the board members of the Fund, which now officially a 501(c)3 corporation. To say that this money has made a difference in the future of the Frozen Pea Fund is an understatement. I join ooVoo and crayon in taking great pride knowing that this gift will make a difference in the lives of many people suffering from cancer.

One final note. In his absence from the dinner (he was under the weather), Joseph Jaffe had been lampooned all night on Twitter by the attendees. I decided that, rather than be taken in vain, Joe's name should be used for good, so directly after the check presentation, I held an impromptu auction of his name badge. After some pretty aggressive bidding, Geoff Livingston went home as Joseph Jaffe for the sum of $500, payable to the Frozen Pea Fund.

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Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Connecting with Others Through Memories
So much of what we experience in online communities today is driven by real-time sharing of ideas, links and news - things that change on a daily basis. It can be pretty exhausting trying to keep up with the pace. Recently, crayon (my employer) took on a client that is focused on something entirely different: connecting people through the past.

Linkory is a site that allows members to post memories of any sort and share them with anyone. For example, you can put up some personal family members - maybe even a video of a grandparent reminiscing about their early life and struggles - and make it viewable only to your family. Or you could post your perspective on a historical event - say 9/11 or the Red Sox winning the World Series in 2004 - and see how other people viewed that same event.

Over time, I think there could be a use for the site by sociologists and psychologists, who might be able to make certain conclusions about demographics, behavior, or human nature based on various responses to a single event. With the rise of citizen journalism going on right now, it's fascinating to think that this might be a platform for citizen history.

One of Seth Godin's mantras is that marketing should be about storytelling because great stories capture the imagination, can be trusted, and are emotional. And really, when you're sharing a memory, you're telling a personal story.

Their site is fairly new and at crayon we're helping them test it out. I'd appreciate it if you checked out Linkory yourself and gave it a try. Let me know what you think of the concept or of anything related to the site.

In the meantime, enjoy this old Volkswagen commercial, backed with an entirely appropriate song for this post: "Memories" by Andre de Villiers.



The lyrics:
I remember the days of my life
I recall the faces – mostly yours
Magic moments – life was a mystery
There’s no place on earth that – we’d rather be

Moving up – going through some changes
Storing up the memories
Can you give me the light of my life?
I always gave the best I could give

Sometimes it never seemed like enough
Though we never quit when- the going got tough
Do you remember the way it used to be?
Never counting cost – was a matter of trust
Covenant cut – were lovers for life
I still bear the scar – you used to carry the knife

I remember the days of my life
I recall the faces- mostly yours
Magic moments – life still a mystery
There’s no place on the earth that- we’d rather be

This is my life
And I’m passing on the
Memories

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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.

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Sunday, February 10, 2008

My ooVoo Day With Kicks Off
Well, it's here! We "ooficially" kicked off My ooVoo Day With... today at noon with the first chat session with George Parker. There are a few additional slots available and I'm working on adding a couple of last-minute hosts that you might want to check out.

Some folks you might want to check out include:

And thanks to a suggestion from Bryan Person, who noted that it was difficult to see who was available on a particular date without checking out each host, I've created this Google Calendar as an easy reference. Please be sure to share it:



If you haven't done so yet, please take a moment to download ooVoo over at the My ooVoo Day With site and sign up for some sessions. I hope you'll be as pleased with your experience as I've been hearing from others.

Reminder: ooVoo is a client of my employer, crayon

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Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Can I Share Something with You?
I've been a little distracted lately. Not because of Twitter, not because of my other interests, but because of a very complex and detailed project I've been working on at crayon. I'm very excited about it and happy to tell you about it now that it has launched.

To say that this project has been my life lately is an understatement. My colleagues know it. My friends sense it. And my family feels it - and I thank them for their amazing patience and support. But in the end, I think we've got the makings of a fairly unique project that's bringing together bloggers/podcasters/authors and their respective communities like never before - all in the name of Conversation .

Let me explain.

The project I've been working on is for ooVoo , a crayon client that does video chat - but more than just any video chat. As you can see, it allows up to 6 people to talk at once. Plus with the latest version, you can actually record video conversations. I won't get into all of the details here. If you want to know more, just check out some tutorials & stuff on ooVoo's site.

Our goal with ooVoo is to help build awareness - they're a fairly young startup - and introduce people to what they can do. So we came up with a pretty interesting way for bloggers & podcasters to connect with their communities, face to face. We're calling it "My ooVoo Day With..." and we've got 23 bloggers participating - the list includes:

As you can imagine, these are busy people who have little time in general. Well, ooVoo is thanking them by primarily sponsoring the the Frozen Pea Fund, a fund established to support the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign, in honor of blogger, Twitterer and cancer patient Susan Reynolds. A handful of the hosts have selected their own charities for ooVoo to support as well.

But in the end, this is all about conversation - not about ooVoo, mind you, but about whatever these bloggers and their communities want to discuss. ooVoo is just the enabler. In fact, we're determined to see ooVoo become the "unooficial" sponsor of conversation.

So, how does this work? Check it out:



So, all you have to do is go over to My ooVoo Day With..., download the software (for Mac or PC - both are still in beta), and pick the blogger of your choice. You can sign up for a single session with any of them and chat with them about whatever they've got scheduled.

If you'd like to tell anyone else about it, you can grab some multimedia elements from the social media news release that our partners over at Abraham & Harrison created.

What are you waiting for? ooVoo someone today?

(That was a mouthful just to explain - can you imagine trying to coordinate all of it?)

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Friday, January 25, 2008

Keep the Tip(ping Point)
It's funny. Just yesterday, I got notified by two separate people - one of whom is my colleague Greg Verdino - about an article that criticizes the theory behind Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. One directed me to the Wall Street Journal's The Informed Reader post called "The Cast Against Marketing to 'Influencers'" while the other referred to the recent Fast Company article Is The Tipping Point Toast?

Gladwell's theory (echoed by Ed Kelly and Jon Berry in The Influentials) held that trends are influenced by a select few; word of mouth marketing efforts typically focus on those. But the articles mention that social networks are too complex to function like that, and that the influencer theory is kaput.

The reason it caught my attention is because both articles cite the research of Columbia University research scientist Duncan Watts. This is the same research I actually wrote about 8 months ago, in post called The Accidental Influentials. The concept was that ideas or trends can spread like a forest fire, and that it doesn't matter who applies the match - it's the conditions of the forest that make a difference.

There are two points I'll raise in connection with this.

In Social Media, Timing Is Everything
The first thing that struck me is that I hit upon this back in May of 2007. But the mainstream media is only getting to it now. Why? The topic is clearly in a field I'm interested in, so that might be one factor as to why I covered it early. The other is that I had initially heard about the study on a podcast. Given that new media is still struggling for recognition as a legitimate and viable channel, I'm not surprised it didn't make headlines then.

Watts is Wrong
As someone who works in the field of conversational/word-of-mouth/social media marketing, it should come as no surprise that I think Watts isn't quite correct when he claims that influentials aren't necessarily influential. I think that his research was flawed in that it only focused on email and a virtual setting, whereas now we have a variety of communications methodologies that account for the rapid spread of ideas: IM, video chat, and social networks of all kinds, to name a few. I won't go so far as to say he's 100% wrong - but then again, I don't think that Gladwell was 100% right either.

At crayon, we consult and advise on a variety of conversational marketing strategies that incorporate an element of influencer outreach (or "blogger outreach," as many call it). With the proper amount of time and attention dedicated to research, and using tools like Technorati and Alexa, it's fairly easy to determine who the major influencers are in any given segment. Where it gets difficult is figuring out how to interact with them. You need to know how each one communicates, in which social networks they participate, and on and on.

My Alternate Theory - The Boy Scout Analogy
I propose that a hybrid theory - Watts' and Gladwell's theories combined - makes more sense. We can agree that there will always be influencers, whether you call them A-listers, celebrities, or whatever. People will always look to these leaders and high profile individuals for cues.

At the same time, I think Watts is onto something when he uses the forest fire analogy. Yes, the conditions have to be right for an idea to spread. But he claims "any old match will do" to get it started. I don't think so. Someone might have wet matches or might not know how to strike one properly. It's the combination of finding the right conditions (social networks, communities, etc.) and applying the match (friends, members, followers, commenters, in those socnets & communities).

Once you've got the proper combination of communities and influencers and you understand the intricacies and nuances of how they work together, then you'll have the recipe for success.

As part of their training, the Boy Scouts have to learn how to make fires how to adhere to fire safety. Their official motto is "be prepared." I think the same should be said for marketers consider conversational marketing.



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Monday, December 24, 2007

Going Truly Digital This Holiday Season
I don't know if you've heard, but Queen Elizabeth II is going digital, as she releases her annual Christmas message on YouTube. What's more, the Royal Family has even established its own channel on YouTube. Not bad for an institution that 10 years ago was being thought of as potentially irrelevant and extinct.

I addressed my share of holiday cards this year (well, truthfully, I used mail merge and address labels, but there was manual labor involved), but I thought what a great time to start integrating some digital messaging as well. Here's one for you:

video

While I recognize that not everyone on my list is able to send/receive electronic messages, odds are the percentage will grow higher each year. Which is why it's cool that I can record a message like this with ooVoo, Seesmic, or any number of applications. If I really get my act together, I can do the ultimate cool thing: connect with up to 5 people at a time on a video chat via ooVoo, which could make for some fun holiday interaction.

Whatever you're doing for the holidays, be safe and enjoy. And I look forward to hearing from you in whatever manner you choose to communicate.

Disclosure: ooVoo is a client of my company, crayon, LLC.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

I'm Virtually Working
[Note: the following is a feature that I originally wrote for Media Bullseye. If you don't subscribe to this unique e-magazine of the communications field, I strongly suggest you check it out. And while you're at it - you do subscribe to my blog, don't you?]

One of the realities that we face in this increasingly online world is that more of our previously "analog" activities are now becoming digital. From shopping and banking to project management and document retrieval, there are more Web-based applications that make our lives easier to manage from in front of the screen.

Which begs the obvious question: if apps can be Web-based, then why can’t workers?

With so much focus on work-life balance, flex time and family-friendly workplaces, more companies are discovering that non-traditional working environments may benefit their employees and their company. In other words, "flex" might very well apply to place rather than time - and "work" doesn’t necessarily mean a fluorescent-lit cube farm.

I think there’s a unique confluence of events that occurred beginning at the close of 2001 which got us to where we are today. Part technological, part sociological, these situations have led to the same inevitable conclusion: we’ll be seeing many more jobs that do not require physical relocation, and even more that encourage part-time work from home.


  1. September 11, 2001. The business travel market shrank significantly after the terrorist attacks, for a couple of reasons: less free cash flow meant reining in expenses, and travel budgets were an easy target; and Americans were a little hesitant to step back on airplanes after seeing what had happened, preferring rather to stay close to home and hearth. Organizations began looking into more virtual presence applications, such as video conferencing and Web-based presentation software, to substitute face-to-face client and departmental meetings.
  2. The rise of universally available high-speed access. First it was DSL and cable that became mainstream. Now FiOS is quickly following suit and wireless network cards for the real road warriors are about as cheap as a cell phone plan. Any way you look at it, there is ubiquitous high-speed access wherever we go. Good riddance, dial-up!
  3. Web-based software becomes endemic. The ability to share photos, files, and other data online has nearly made boxed software disposable – especially when you consider many of these are free.
  4. "Soft" benefits are being sold by HR. Driven mainly by the FMLA, paternity leave is becoming more of a norm, HR departments have realized that allowing workers the time to participate in their childrens’ activities will make for a happy, more productive workforce. And let’s not forget the growing number of commuters out there on the roads each day. The traffic isn’t getting any lighter. By allowing work to be done off-hours and from home, the enterprise can still thrive while encouraging employees to lead fulfilling and less stressful lives.


So, combine less frequent business travel with online access and software improvement, add to it changing attitudes about when and where we work, and you’ve got the perfect storm for the rise of the virtual employee.

My own company, crayon, is a virtual company. We are scattered around the Northeast and work from home offices, but we use new media technologies to stay in touch and hold meetings – from Skype for our primary phone and IM service, to ooVoo for up to 6 people in a video chat, to Second Life for open houses and large presentations, to Basecamp for project and client management, we don’t need office space. ABC World News Tonight even did a feature story on this.

Now, that’s not to say that we eschew face-to-face meetings. On the contrary, we believe they’re an essential part of how we do business. We check in with each other regularly and have monthly meetings in person. But we know that each one of us has the freedom to work how he or she chooses, and it means that our families are happier, our clients are satisfied and we have the opportunity to build the business of the future. Everyone wins.

I fully expect that more companies will embrace this type of workforce in the near future. In this age of information and conversation, it’s the knowledge workers who will be most sought after - and it’s a seller’s market. Don’t expect them to uproot their families just so they can come to work at a generic-looking office park in a nondescript suburb. A top-notch hire will be able to work wherever he or she wants and will likely choose the company that reflects those values.

The question is: are you virtually prepared?

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Monday, December 10, 2007

We Know Why You Use Social Media
At American Airlines, the tagline is "We know why you fly." Sounds a little spooky, in a Big Brother-ish way at first. But really, it's a matter of AMR listening to their customers and being able to act accordingly. Well, now they're using social media to let customers know about each other - more like "We know why we fly."

AMR's AAdvantage unit - their frequent travel program and one of their most profoundly successful business units - has forayed into social media. While it's nothing as sexy as a social network or a new Facebook app, it is nevertheless a way that AMR is letting its most loyal members interact with each other.


In late October, under the guidance of my company, crayon, they launched the AAdvantage Milefinder Map, a mashup of the Google Maps API and AAdvantage partner data. If you log on to the map, you can see hotels, restaurants, car rental agencies and other partner information, sorted around 11 city centers. At this point, it's just a pilot program (I know, sorry!) and AMR may expand it to other cities based on the response.

Users can use the standard social media sharing functions such as Digg, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, etc. to share their findings. But most importantly, they can submit reviews of each vendor, in order to better inform other AAdvantage members of places to visit or avoid, based on their experience.

The comments are monitored for off-topic rants, profanity, or any other untoward activity. But in their commitment to keeping the experience as transparent and authentic as possible, AMR is leaving any negative posts up. I give them full credit for doing so, for it's not easy for a large brand to let go of control.

Finally, I'm happy to see that this approach - using online tools to help steer offline decision making - is gaining traction. ComScore and the Kelsey Group recently found that offline purchase behavior is influenced by online reviews. In fact, percentage of people who consider online reviews in the top 3 categories match the major AAdvantage Milefinder Map categories:
  • Restaurants - 41%
  • Hotels - 40%
  • Travel - 27%

This is good news to other brands that may be a little hesitant to try some online experiments, knowing that their purchases are really done offline. The line between online and offline is continuing to blur in a very interesting way. One flows into th next and information is collected, analyzed and acted upon an a variety of ways.

Are there any industries that you typically research online and then purchase offline? What are they?


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Friday, November 23, 2007

Let Us Count Our Blessings
The other night, I was listening to a simple, yet moving piece: Aaron Copland's suite from Our Town. The 1940 movie brought to life Thornton Wilder's classic play, which highlighted the importance of appreciating the little things in life and demonstrated that even a small town isn't completely immune from the influence of the rest of the world.

"It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another."
The quote is from "Our Town," but it can apply to social media (or life) just the same. With so much happening, we should remember to take stock of who we are, where we came from, and who helps us be the people we are in our respective communities. And to recognize that our communities are far-reaching - well beyond our geographic location.

It's entirely appropriate then, that a meme is circulating with an underlying theme of giving thanks to those in our past and present. In particular this latest meme is "Who had a big influence on you and how did that affect the direction of your life or career?" and it was begun by Kami Huyse and Rob Lagasse. I've been tagged by Kyle Flaherty, who paid me a very fine compliment in his post. [Aside: thank you for that, Kyle. I hope I continue to live up to your expectations.]

Andy Ferrara was my biggest influence, only I didn't know it at the time. It's only as my career has blossomed that I've had the opportunity to reflect on Andy's advice and example.

My first consulting gig was doing corporate development on a 3-person team for Boston Healthcare Associates. I was still young and a bit unsure of myself, as I had never done that kind of work before and was responsible for the strategic and financial well-being of my clients.

Andy had an open-door policy and even when he was extremely busy, he always took a few moments to welcome me into his office and make me feel as if I was the most important thing on his agenda. I was talking with him about some doubts I was having, and he said something that sticks with me still:
"Just tell yourself 'I have arrived.'"

That's it. Plain and simple. It's the premise behind The Secret. But it takes a bit of self-confidence before you can really embrace it. And until this year, I didn't really appreciate that.

The other thing that Andy taught me was the importance of listening. One of the main tenets of joining a social network or community is that you must listen first. Andy would sit in a conference room with clients or employees and would let everyone speak. He only offered his opinion at the end of the meeting, and it always seemed that his comments were the most insightful and comprehensive. He didn't open his mouth just to hear himself speak, he really had a reason for speaking.

In the spirit of keeping the meme alive, I'm going to tag a few folks - people that I'm thankful for this year. I've many, many people in mind, but I do want to keep this succinct. I'll be sharing another post shortly about my recent experiences meeting so many wonderful social media mavens in the Boston area.

Julia Roy - no, I'm not tagging Julia because she's been after me to put her on my blogroll, but rather because she is one of the shining examples of someone who combines passion, intelligence and humor to great effect. Her personal brand is sassy yet serious, playful yet intelligent, and always engaging. She uses Seesmic to her advantage and has great boots. I'm very sad that Boston is losing her to New York, but thanks to new media, we'll still be able to benefit from her uber-presence.

Len Edgerly - Len is one of my surprise friends this year. He's half Denver, half Cambridge and entirely cool. I think we became acquainted over Twitter and we found a common interest in the arts, particularly in literature. In his Video Pod Chronicles episode with NewMediaJim, I recognized the Colony Hotel in the background and mentioned it. What has resulted is a kind of mutual admiration society and a new friendship that I hope to nourish.

Joseph Jaffe - How could I not mention the Interruptor? No, not this one. I'm talking about the founder of the company I work for, crayon. Just a year ago I was only a fan of crayon, but earlier this year, Joseph enthusiastically welcomed me to the team (what were you thinking, Joe?). My time with crayon has been exhilarating and exhausting, but incredibly rewarding. I really feel like I'm part of something big, and I have Joseph to thank for that.

Drew McLellan - Probably one of the nicest guys in the blogosphere, Drew tapped me as one of the original core group to write The Age of Conversation, a groundbreaking book that took the work of 103 authors and resulting in over $10,000 raised for charity. Drew's insights into marketing and branding are always eye-opening for me, and his approachability and encouragement always make me smile.

Thank you all, for being a unique and special part of my social media world. You make it a more interesting place and you inspire many others in your own way. I hope you continue the meme and share your thanks with your own communities.



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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

When a Community Unites, Great Things Are Possible
My friend and colleague Joseph Jaffe is getting ready to burn up the charts. His second book, Join the Conversation: How to Engage Marketing-Wearing Consumers Through the Power of Community, Dialogue and Partnership, is now available.

But keeping in the spirit of the book, Joe is using new marketing to prove new marketing. This Sunday, October 21, he is going to bum rush the charts at Amazon. "Do what to the what?" I hear you asking. He's asking that everyone wait until Sunday to buy the book and then hit that purchase button at once, helping to drive his book up the Amazon rankings.

This only works when you purchase one book at a time, so if you're at all inclined to buy multiple copies, please be aware that if you buy 5 books together, it only counts as a single purchase for the rankings. Tip: if you do want more than one copy, bundle each one with another book you plan on purchasing, in order to get Amazon's free shipping.

So, please join me in purchasing the book (no, I don't get an employee discount) on Sunday and showing Amazon what the power of community can mean.
.

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Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Life After Life After the 30-Second Spot
A couple of weeks ago, I was in New York to participate in a press conference for Firebrand, one of our clients at crayon.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about the features of Firebrand, as they've been covered by Joe and Greg, among others. Before I tell you about the event, here's a thumbnail sketch of Firebrand. Essentially, Firebrand offers Web, TV and mobile viewing of top-notch television commercials, but with a twist that sets it apart from other online video properties: they're all-commercials, all the time; and the site allows you to actually participate in contests, giveaways and offers from the very brands that you're watching.

While it may seem counterintuitive that crayon, the company whose founder bemoans the tired old 30-second spot, was involved, there was a method to our madness. You see, in this case, the ads are not interruptions of the feature program: they are the feature program. Commercials as content. And we can support entertainment and engagement.

Now let me tell you a little bit about the event itself.

Firebrand planned a press conference for September 25, during Advertising Week - perfect timing, as lots of industry people would be in town and journalists would be in the mood to talk about marketing & advertising. Held at the Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio), it was the perfect spot for debuting a brand that is multimedia in nature.

In addition to a nod to the past and present, Firebrand also looked to the future, by virtue of the invitation list. There were probably about 75 people in attendance in the hall - mostly traditional journalists - and I was impressed with the turnout. But here's the interesting part: I was one of a handful of bloggers who were there as well (many more were invited, but unable to attend). When you consider that Firebrand's target audience is Millennials, having the news break on blogs is a natural move.

The bloggers - who were treated the same as the traditional press - were given press kits, including glossies and a traditional press release, as well as links to the social media news release for the event. The SMNR had links to pages on YouTube, Flickr and del.icio.us and even a Facebook group. Based on what I've seen from some prominent bloggers, the SMNR was widely used, as video links and quotes continue to pop up everywhere. And the Facebook group has already garnered over 500 members.

All this, and the site doesn't even go live until October 22! Not bad. Stay tuned for the beta release...

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Friday, September 28, 2007

Even the Most Subtle Decisions Are Made for a Reason
It seems I'm in good company. Blue is in right now - my official color with crayon is Midnight Blue (Greg is green and Joseph is Aquamarine. I'll let them explain their own choices, if they wish).


I chose that color when I joined because - well, look around you here on my blog for a hint. But more than that, I chose the color for a business reason. Since I deal with clients on a regular basis, I wanted to espouse some of the feelings that blue typically conveys:
  • Openness
  • Calm, cool and soothing effects
  • A feeling of well-being
  • Fidelity

I know a lot of this might be hocus-pocus or completely subjective. Does blue have any sort of effect on you or on the decisions you make? Would you or have you ever decided against a brand or product because of its color?

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Thursday, September 20, 2007

How PR Professionals Can Avoid Bad Blogger Outreach in 3 Easy Steps
Bad blogger pitches. We've all been on the receiving end. Or if you haven't, you will be. It's almost a mathematical certainty.

I recently wrote about a pitch that I received that generally was very good; the only problem was a gaffe the PR executive made when she called me by the wrong name. All in all, it was a minor error, but it was enough to put me off. But something remarkable happened in the wake of that post and I'd like to share it with you. It's resulted in what I call a recipe for success from a blogger's perspective.

First of all, the reason I say a bad pitch is inevitable is simple: blogger outreach is not immediately scalable, so mass emailing is commonplace. But every blogger is different and needs to be personally courted. I'm not talking about a deep and abiding romance, but rather a simple relationship that is forged between PR executive and blogger, through genuine engagement and conversation between the two. It's a matter of establishing a 1:1 relationship - of showing the blogger you understand his writing or that you care enough to respond to one of her posts.

And this is difficult to do when a PR professional - who, let's face it, is used to mass mail-merging press releases and pitches - is trying to contact maybe 100 different bloggers. To spend a couple of weeks of lead time following, reading and responding is a major commitment. But I think it's crucial.

So, here's what happened in the wake of my post They Almost Had Me and why I think it's so compelling to share with you.

Before I do that, I'd like to recommend a couple of resources that you might check out. The first is a well thought out Blogger Outreach Code of Ethics from Ogilvy's 360 Digital Influence. It's a great effort that will likely evolve over time, but in my mind is a cornerstone. The other is a thoughtful post from the always thoughtful Todd Defren of SHIFT Communications' PR Squared blog.

After I wrote my post, I received a comment and an email from Kristen, the PR executive who had originally contacted me. This demonstrated a couple of things to me: that she was monitoring the blogosphere for mentions of her client and that she wanted to make a personal connection regarding the error. It took courage to admit to her mistake, and I admire that kind of selfless conviction.

As part of her email, Kristen mentioned being new to social media and still having a lot to learn. I used that as an opportunity to write back and offered to speak with her specifically about the pitch and more generally about social media. So, we had a phone conversation.

During the call, I learned a little more about the client she was representing (and I'll review said company in another post) but I also had a chance to take a look at blogger outreach from the other side - something that I think we bloggers are sometimes too quick to dismiss. During the course of our call, I came up with a few interesting ideas that might be worth considering if you're a PR professional doing blogger or influencer outreach.

Kristen said that she much preferred the 1:1 interactions that build trust and establish engagement. Of course, this just isn't achievable in a mass outreach program. She mentioned that she's more of a phone person. Again, kind of difficult when you're dealing with writers who ply their trade online. And they're not likely to call a PR person back if given a phone number in an email pitch.

Quite the conundrum. What to do? Taking crayon's model of community, dialogue and partnership, I've developed a simple three-point plan that will allow any PR executive to have a better shot of engaging with the blogosphere.

Establish Your Credibility (Partnership)
One of the mising links in blogger outreach is a personal connection with the PR executive; while there's an opportunity for the PR person to understand and connect with the blogger after reading so much of his writing, the blogger ends up having to deal with a faceless person connected with a corporate or client interest. One way to avoid this is for the PR executive to set up a page about them. Tell us a bit about who YOU are, who you work for, how long you've been doing what you do.

Take it a step further to outline the goals of the outreach, tell us about your client, post some interesting links or existing press. In short, be transparent with us.

This page can take the form of a landing page, or, more to the point, it can be set up as a blog. It doesn't have to be extensive with lots of posts. A single entry about you and about your client, along with a sidebar containing additional information and/or links is all that it will take. The result will show the blogger that you've got some skin in the game and are willing to immerse yourself in the blogger's world.

Find Common Ground (Dialogue)
If a phone conversation is a key element to your communication style, then use the tools at your disposal to make it that much easier. I use a service called GrandCentral (now owned by Google) that gives you a single phone number that can ring through to all of your phones. But one of the features on their site is the ability to post a button on your blog or page that will automatically dial your number when someone clicks on it. How much easier could that be? You direct the blogger to your site, they read about you and simply click on a button to talk with you a little more.

"Great," I hear you say. "But what if I don't want to rely on bloggers to contact me?" Another way to approach this is for you to reach out to them. A service called Jangl allows you to fill in an email address for your contact, after which Jangl will give you a Jangl phone number to call them and leave a personal message. Jangl will then email your voicemail and provide them a local number to call you back on. Head over to their site to check out the full explanation of how it works.

But done right, with Grand Central or Jangl, this can change the way you're doing your blogger outreach. Creating a dialogue with your

Create a Sense of Community (Community)
In retrospect, this idea seems to obvious that I'm surprised I hadn't thought of it (or heard about it from others) before. With Facebook being one of the fastest growing social networks for 25 year-olds, it is the place to be. And if a PR professional (who typically has a strong network) isn't part of Facebook yet, shame of them.

It's fairly easy to establish a group for your client, linking to their web site, sharing posts that have been written by them or about them, posting videos or photos of their product or their customers, etc. The key is that once you've established the group, you need to invite your network to join it. Browbeat everyone at your firm, your client, their contacts and the bloggers you're reaching out to join your Facebook group. The idea is that if Facebook members see their friends joining a group, they're more likely to join too. Voila! Instant community. And again, use that personal page to place a button, badge or link to your group.

Another option is to have a Facebook application created for your client. This may not work for everyone - check out the applications (some 4,000+) in Facebook to get an idea of how apps can be viral. Indeed, Facebook is now starting a $10 million fund that will reward and support development of the most innovative applications.

While you can't create an application for a group, if you come up with something that's truly inspired (and tied to the brand), the app will spread across the entire Facebook network quickly and benefit your client.


So there you have it. Connecting with bloggers is all about the personal connections through conversation, offering a compelling reason to act, and making them feel like they're truly valued as part of a larger effort. If you try an end-run around it, your mass mailing mentality will be easily spotted and you stand less of a chance with bloggers.

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Monday, August 27, 2007

ABC News Waxes Futuristic
Last month, crayon was visited by a crew from ABC News, as they were filming a piece for a series called "The Workplace of the Future." As crayon has offices in Second Life, we were a natural choice to showcase what it's like to be part of a virtual company.

Well, earlier this evening, World News Tonight with Charles Gibson aired a spot that featured crayon in addition to IBM and accenture. Not bad company to keep, eh? My colleagues got some nice coverage, including C.C., Joseph and Greg (voice only). You can watch the video by clicking the player in the upper-right corner of your screen.

The ultimate irony? You're forced to watch a 30-second spot as part of the pre-roll. Here's the YouTube version without the ads:



And in the meantime, you're welcome to join us on Crayonville Island every Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. EST for Coffee with crayon.

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Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Where Does the Time Go?
Happy Birthday, Social Media Blog! I can't believe it's been a year - almost to the minute, as I look at the clock - since I started this little project. And to think that I had the foresight (?) to choose the bland but very distinctive title "The Social Media Marketing Blog."

A lot has happened in a year - a new job, being asked to co-author a book, being ranked one of the top 150 marketing blogs - in some ways it feels like I just started last month, but in other ways, so much has changed that I feel like it's been much longer than a year.

What's kept me going when the times were rough was the knowledge that I've had the support of fellow writers and marketers out there. Your comments and email have been an inspiration and I thank you for participating in the conversation here.

My only hope is that I can continue to create and discover content that resonates with you. If I'm failing you in that regard, please tell me. If I'm succeeding at it, I wouldn't mind hearing from you, either.

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Friday, June 29, 2007

A View from Inside the Crayon Box
The days at crayon have been busy lately, which is a good thing. But it's been keeping my frequency down on this blog.

Since I started working at crayon, a number of friends and colleagues have asked me, "So what's it like, working there?" There's really no easy way to answer that. Exhilarating. Stressful. Fun. Inspiring. Never boring. Want a great way to find out? Check out Coffee with crayon every Thursday at 9:00 a.m. in Second Life.

Invariably the questions from my associates come back to Joseph Jaffe - "what's he like?" they want to know. Again, there's no easy way to answer. He's very smart. He's passionate about what he does, his vision for crayon and for the future of marketing. And with a title like President & Chief Interruptor, you know there's got to be a little more beneath the surface.

So rather than tell you more about our Chief Interruptor, I'll show you:



Oh, and in case you didn't pick up on it, we crayonistas have a healthy sense of humor.

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Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Coffee with Crayon
Hey - how'd you like to spend some quality time with some crayonistas? Every Thursday from 9:00 -9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, crayon hosts Coffee with crayon at our offices in Second Life. It's your opportunity to join the conversation and pick our brains about whatever you want. It's open to the public, so pop in and check us out.

What typically goes on during Coffee with crayon? It's a wildcard! Usually we get some of the brightest minds from around the social media space who pop in and spark some great conversations with us. You can usually count on:
  • Discussion around some of the latest goings-on in the new media field, from successes to controversies
  • Comparing notes on some of the latest tools, applications and sites in the new media field
  • Features in Second Life
This week, we'll be welcoming our newest members to the group. Why don't you plan on stopping by and seeing what it's all about? After all, new media is all about trying new things.

And if you ever wondered what life at the real crayon office is like, check out this video, by DraftFCB:

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Sunday, June 17, 2007

Another Crayon Added to the Box
I'm very proud to say that one of my fellow bloggers has decided to become a fellow crayonista. I guess you could call him my new new media colleague.

Greg Verdino, most recently VP of Emerging Channels at Digitas and author of Greg Verdino's Marketing Blog (well, who else would author it, really?), is joining crayon tomorrow as Chief Strategy Officer.

Everyone on the team is very excited to have Greg join us. With his ability to assess the latest channels, applications, tools and techniques, combined with his knowledge of marketing, Greg is sure to give crayon a boost.

AdWeek scooped everyone with their coverage over the weekend. But the best announcement comes from Greg himself.

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Thursday, May 24, 2007

Sometimes "Thank You" Is All That's Required

After yesterday's big announcement, I was greeted with a number of comments, emails and tweets from a variety of people in the social media world - some of whom I've met, with whom I've corresponded and in some cases, some whom I've never heard of or heard from before.

And to all of you - if I haven't said so individually yet - allow me to simply say:

Thank you.
I have continued to find and I firmly believe that the positive energy that one expends in a social network is returned in multiples. My friend Greg Verdino thinks so too. (Hey wait, didn't I mention this before?) This week I have been humbled by the outpouring of support and thoughtfulness, not to mention the congratulatory messages that they've extended to both me and my future employer.

I've been writing this blog for nearly a year, and I feel that in so many ways I'm still a novice, with much still to learn. And despite knowing my subject matter, sometimes I wonder if any of the material is resonating with my readers, either on a personal level or for business practices.

For that reason, the kindness you have shown and the confidence you place in me have inspired me with even more positive feelings about my job change and my writing. Even though I'm sure there are some heavy workloads ahead, it is my hope to continue to bring you valuable insights, candid commentary, frank assessments and humor on a regular basis - all designed to further the conversation.

It's the least I can do in return for your praise and respect.

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

My New Social Media Job
We interrupt this marketing blog to bring you a purely personal post. Well, that's not entirely true. It's a personal post with a marketing twist.

If you stop by my desk, you'll find an assortment of fountain pens, usually kept on a pen holder or in a mahogany and glass display case that my colleagues have deemed the "pen humidor." I prefer to use fountain pens because they're distinctive, elegant and they require me to really focus on what I'm writing.

For about 2 1/2 years I've been at an award-winning traditional agency - in some ways a fountain pen of the marketing world. Staffed with incredibly intelligent and talented people with distinctive personalities, the agency has given me an opportunity to help clients address complex problems for sophisticated audiences.

But as you know, I've been writing about marketing in the social media space for the last year or so and have craved social media marketing projects at every turn. As my agency is small and focused on B2B clients, the opportunities have been limited. So I've managed to educate myself on the subject and to interact with some intelligent, creative and well-connected new media people, both online and in person.

My initial interest in the space was instigated from a keynote presentation at the 2006 Boston Ad Club symposium where I heard Joseph Jaffe speak. From then on, I had the bug, leading to an inexorable flow of RSS feeds and podcasts as well as the formation of my blog (I have still kept my other blog as a social media laboratory of sorts).

So when Jaffe & Co. launched crayon last October, I watched the whole thing unfold. The initial announcements, the various podcast plugs, the launch in Second Life - I was excited that new marketing was being given a boost. I even closed that October 20, 2006 blog post with "Talk about a dream job!"

Fast forward to this March, when I heard Joseph speak at the Ad Club Symposium again, this time with C.C. Chapman in tow. I was much more prepared - so much so that C.C. and I were exchanging Twitter messages across the floor of the event. Joseph, C.C. and I connected briefly at the event, followed up with a wave of emails, tweets and phone calls, and finally came to a mutual decision:

On June 4th, I officially join the crayon team.

Dream job, indeed. I'll be working with crayon clients to help them understand new media opportunities and, with the help of the crayon creative & strategic team, to help build new marketing campaigns and social media outreach programs for some major brands.

As you can imagine, I'm incredibly excited about the opportunity - not only do I get to do what I love on a daily basis, but I get to do so with some people I really admire and respect. So now, rather than being filled with lustrous fountain pens, my pen humidor is going to look something like this:
There will be a follow up post on "how social media helped me land my new job," in which I'll detail the steps that I took - some of which led to very interesting conversations, others which didn't pan out - all of which were directly linked to being part of the larger new marketing social network. It may even be something of a case study for putting social media to work as a tool in your career development.

Over the next two weeks, I'll be spending time with my family (in particular prepping for Drew's 1st birthday), accomplishing some tasks around the house, getting my home office organized and continuing to delve into this amazingly fertile and fluid world of new media.

Happy coloring!


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Monday, May 21, 2007

The Pepsi Challenge
A couple of weeks ago, the new marketing company crayon announced a revolutionary campaign undertaken on behalf of their client, The Coca-Cola Company. It's called Virtual Thirst and it invites users to participate in the Coke experience by generating ideas for creating their own vending machines that can do absolutely anything. The winner will see their creation become reality in Second Life.

The folks at crayon have developed a number of social media components to the campaign, including concerts and gatherings at the Coca-Cola Pavillion in Second Life, YouTube videos inviting response/entry videos, the landing page and a panel of celebrity judges to choose the winner. Undoubtedly a creative campaign that is designed to spark user-generated ideas to make the Coke brand come to life. More information is available at VirtualThirst.com.

But you have to wonder when Coke's #1 competitor Pepsi launches a campaign the same month that features...ads on bus shelters? Yes, bus shelters.

It seems a step down from the uber-cool Second Life approach from crayon. Or so I thought when I read the headline. But as I got a little further into the MediaPost piece, my interest grew.

Evidently, the ads feature a technology called LumiGraphics that lights up the ad and the shelter. This is the first time LumiGraphics have been used in the United States; the ads are currently being run in Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver, New York and Washington.

But what makes this illuminated outdoor ad stand apart from others is that it also brings Bluetooth technology to the mix. Passersby who are Bluetooth-enabled can download content such as a rap by New York Yankee Johnny Damon (!) or hip-hop artists, if you're a rap purist. The creative also encourages viewers to go to PepsiSmash.com for more music - a site that is driven by Yahoo! Music.

Not bad, not bad. I never was a Pepsi fan myself, except for Mountain Dew. Will this change my mind? Not likely. Will it grab some attention? Definitely. But to me, it doesn't invite the same level of participation - of conversation - that the Coke campaign does. This still smacks of one-way marketing. Which is fine, but I hope for their sake that Pepsi has a little more bubbling.

I say let the Yankees associate themselves with Pepsi. I'll stick with the Boston Red Sox and Coca-Cola, thank you very much.

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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:
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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 Keynote at OMMA Global Sept. 21, 2009

MIMA Summit

Brand Camp '09 "I am Speaking at" Widget 135px Direct Marketing Association International conference, Oct. 18-22, 2009



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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.

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