Grown Up Thinking

It’s that time of year again – Social Media Week has come and gone, leaving us with actionable insights and much anticipated information around our favorite social platforms. For those of you who missed it (or realized an iPad is not actually an effective note-taking device) here are some of the highlights that #SMW11 had to offer:

Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley’s Gives Us A Peek Into The Company’s Future Plans:

The most interesting revelation to come from @dens was the possibility of location-based recommendations. Whether users are in Soho or South Beach, Foursquare would be able to recommend new spots to dine or explore based on their previous check-ins.

The new feature could prove extremely valuable for users exploring unfamiliar territory, and with a recommendation engine that learns with users’ base activity much like Amazon’s intelligent recommendations engine, Foursquare would position itself with a unique value proposition in the increasingly cluttered sphere of location-based services. Foursquare’s social platform could become more utilitarian guiding the decision-making process of its users.

DOTGO’s Integrative Text Messaging Service:

Through a newly developed coding language called CMRL (Concise Message Routing Language), DOTGO is helping to create a two-way dialogue “that makes accessing concise, relevant, and useful content from any web site as easy as sending a text message.”

Why does this matter? DOTGO could prove to be an extremely valuable tool for marketers to reach young teens, parents, and other audiences who don’t have smartphones or other Internet-enabled mobile devices.

Focusing on the Content:

The main take-away over at Red Bull space was that content is king.  As brands especially in entertainment finally understand the benefit of growing their social media communities, they are also realizing the importance of providing a constant stream of truly engaging content to fans.

Even Mike Lazerow CEO of Buddy Media, who has built his business around providing clients with powerful tools to grow fan bases agrees that brands must strategically work to grow engaged quality fans hubs around meaningful conversations, causes and continuous content.

Furthermore, in an age where content is so widely available, brands must intelligently curate their own content across branded channels if they want to foster growth and engagement. If they fail to provide compelling content, fans will find other resources for discovery.

For those of you who missed the week and would like to gain further insight, most of the panels have been recorded via Livestream.  In addition, Sysomos has provided some interesting monitoring and analytics information from the global event.

As we are all aware of by now, peer recommendations are the strongest drivers of purchase intent among consumers. We’ve seen the numbers. It all makes sense. We trust the recommendations of our friends the most.

If we trust our peers’ recommendations the most, why are marketers so obsessed with the ‘Like’ button and not the ‘Recommend’ button? Levi’s has become famous in the social/digital work for being the first major brand to completely socialize their shopping experience. After that, everyone else followed suit and ‘Like’ buttons went up all over the place.

As marketers we understand the power of one word over the other, even if it seems minuscule to most.  If we spend so much time talking about how peer recommendations are the most powerful form of WOM and drive purchase intent, why are we not asking people to ‘Recommend’ products? Why are we only asking people to ‘Like’ them? I think there’s a place for both plug-ins in the online experience. In many instances a consumer might prefer to ‘Like’ a product over recommending it, because they may not have used that product before and liking has a lower cognitive barrier to entry (in the same way that liking has a lower barrier to entry than commenting or sharing).

Where I’d most ‘Like’ to see ‘Recommend’ plug-ins implemented:

- On review sites and message boards discussing products
- During the e-commerce experience, maybe during purchase or post-purchase
- In follow-up emails after purchase
- In email marketing to existing customers and frequent purchasers

What are your views on Like vs Recommend as a marketer and/or as a Consumer? Have you used either of them? Do you see a larger place for the ‘Recommend’ button? Share your thoughts below.

It’s that time of year again in New York City. The trendy restaurants are booked solid, there are black Escalades everywhere and the white tents are up in Lincoln Center. It’s Fashion Week, and this year for the first time, fashionistas everywhere are given real-time access to the runway thanks to Maybelline New York, the official makeup sponsor of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

Throughout the seven day fashion extravaganza connoisseurs who aren’t lucky enough to have a press pass (or volunteer pass for that matter) can tune into the Maybelline New York YouTube channel where 30 runway shows are being streamed live. The live video is supported by a #liverunway Twitter aggregator that pulls in consumer conversations about the live show, and is wired with Facebook and Twitter Connect for easy content sharing.

The Fashion Week access that Maybelline is providing consumers through social media is unprecedented. Never before has a regular gal like me been able to see the latest looks and designs of Monique Lhuillier and Christian Siriano at the same time as Anna Wintour and Nina Garcia. Thanks to social media, a coveted seat under that white tent, which by nature is so exclusive, is suddenly so attainable. An excellent case study of how brands can use social technology to provide consumers with exclusive access to the content they crave, thus further establishing and strengthening the consumer/brand connection/relationship.

Maybelline’s decision to provide consumers with exclusive Fashion Week access is no accident. Over the past year Maybelline has taken an extremely editorial position in the marketplace, providing consumers with trend reports, make-up lessons and more through their digital and social properties. The Fashion Week initiatives are an extension of this stance, deeply engaging consumers with fashion and New York, two pillars of the Maybelline brand, up close and personal.

If 3,029,062 people “Like” Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook, could 18,976,457 people “Like” New York City? Rumor has it Mayor Michael Bloomberg just had a powwow with the world’s most popular dweeb to discuss pushing the Big Apple into the social realm (which is really the least Zuckerberg could do to redeem himself for that painful SNL cameo.)

The NY Daily News reports that while Big Mike has been somewhat vague about the details of the meeting, he believes “there’s a lot of potential” in NYC having its own Facebook page. Bloomberg’s even gone so far as to hire a Millennial to man the helm as Chief Digital Officer – 27-year-old Rachel Sterne (<< follow her!) There has been some criticism that Sterne doesn’t have enough experience for the position or its reported $115,000 salary, but I beg to differ.

What does her resume look like? Our new CDO is founder and CEO of citizen journalism site GroundReport, and was named one of America’s most promising social entrepreneurs by Businessweek, at age 25. Rachel’s also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, despite the absence of her own graduate degree. AdWeek even claims she’s “a bit of a darling in New York’s digital scene“. So, what else do you want? Social and digital is a relatively new space for city government to play, and I believe it takes a fresh and eager mind to understand, embrace, and stay on top of it all.

Equipping the Big Apple with a social media presence will do more than give New Yorkers a greater sense of city pride, it could be an efficient way for NYC to both communicate and collaborate with those of us who live here. I’m curious to learn more about Zuckerberg’s plan for how New York can use Facebook, and what our new CDO will bring to the table. What’s your social media strategy for your city?

As the name may imply, here at Mr Youth many of us are not that far removed from college and often find ourselves immersed in the culture as part of the job. Via our RepNation influencer platform, we spend a lot of time on college campuses working with students and studying youth trends. Whenever I find myself on campus, I can’t help but reminisce about the good ol’ days and it always surprises me to see how much social media and technology has influenced college life in the short time since I left.

The Notes:

(Then) Paper and pen. Many of my professors frowned upon students having laptops in the classroom as they felt it was a distraction. I didn’t own a laptop until my senior year of college, and even then I rarely took it to class.
(Now) Studies are being done at colleges like the University of Notre Dame that analyze the pros and cons of using modern technology in the classroom. In this study, iPads were provided to a group of students, intended to be used as an e-reader, but over the course of the semester students found the iPads to be more useful as an aggregation tool rather than a replacement for a textbook. They reported that the devices are hard to take notes on and the majority felt the $499 price tag was just too expensive for their beer and ramen noodle budgets. Still, when asked how they felt about giving up the device at the end of the study, 65% said it would be hard to relinquish the iPad.

The Courses:

(Then) Looking back on my college curriculum, my major in Strategic Communications was largely focused in Public Relations – writing press releases and learning how to gain PR through traditional news outlets. I can’t help but wonder how much the curriculum has changed in these few short years since I graduated, as I naturally assume a large focus must be on non-traditional media like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and the like.
(Now) Interestingly enough, I spent a little time on my alma mater’s website and it doesn’t look like much has changed in terms of the courses required to graduate with a BA in Strategic Communications. I’m going to guess that social media is interwoven into the current curriculum, which brings up an interesting question: Can social media really be taught, or is it something you can only really learn through practice?

The Phones:

(Then) Having a brother who works for a wireless provider, owning the latest and greatest cell phone has always been an obsession of mine. I vividly remember walking into college sophomore year with a hot pink Motorola flip phone with photo, video and texting capabilities, and wondering how it could ever get better than that.
(Now) Fast Forward to 2011, a recent study revealed that 49% of all college students own smart phones and this figure has nearly doubled over the past year. I would estimate that about 90% of the students we work with though RepNation equip themselves with iPhone, Droid and Blackberry devices which result in an expectation of near-immediate response time. It makes me wonder – in another 5 years, will students no longer have the luxury of reading emails and taking time to come up with a thoughtful and strategic response, in an effort to respond as quickly as possible? And, if this begins to become the norm so early on in one’s professional career, how will this affect the way we do business in the “real world”?

At the end of the day, I find the changes all very exciting, yet slightly terrifying at the same time. With endless potential it’s going to be hard to keep up with it all, but with the possibility of lectures being held via hologram, how can you not want to try?

Today the world waits as reports are rolling in that Egypt has put a lock down on Internet and SMS, creating a blackout that has prevented internet traffic from entering or exiting the country as of 12:30am.

The unprecedented move was made by the Egyptian government in an effort to silence voices of dissent against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak, just hours before a new series of major protests were planned. Before the blackout, Egyptian activists were utilizing hashtags such as #Jan25 to communicate.

As we’ve seen in Iran and Tunisia previously, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms are key communication tools used by political protesters to organize large-scale gatherings and rallies. By blocking these sites, the regime has stripped its people of something much more important than a tweet or a status update—the fundamental right of equal access to knowledge and ideas.

Speaking on the importance of social media, President Obama stated, “There are certain core values that we believe as Americans are universal: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, people being able to use social networking and other mechanisms to communicate their concerns; and that is no less true in the Arab world than it is in the United States”.

While we cannot predict the ultimate political and cultural significance of the outage, our thoughts are with the people of Egypt today.

Some brands are quirky. Some are fun. Some are sweet, and some are smart. A brand’s voice is based on the personality that brand has and how it is viewed by consumers. If it doesn’t seem authentic, it won’t be successful. Case in point – the TSA.

Current controversy aside, I don’t think the TSA is an organization that should have a quirky, funny, friend-next-door persona. The TSA is about process, authority and safety. Over the hectic Thanksgiving travel weekend, they opened a Twitter account and attempted to take on a “buddy” personality with consumers rather than maintaining their authoritative image. While any attempt to communicate directly with consumers is a step in the right direction, many travelers criticized the TSA’s light-hearted tone as being insensitive and artificial at a time when they just needed straight answers and solutions.

A brand’s persona in social media is one of the most important elements in engaging and connecting with its audience on a personal level. Brand persona on Twitter is arguably even more important, because it is less conversational. You may think that a less conversational platform would negate the importance of brand persona; however, the fact that Twitter is mainly a push platform makes every bit of communication vital in expressing a brand’s personality. Twitter leaves less room for redemption.

In the midst of current pat-down controversy, the TSA is providing valuable content about delays and considerations for travelers; however, have only recently moved away from their friendly demeanor due to recent media attention focused on their Twitter account. My advice to the TSA: Sometimes it is the role of authority to be authoritative.

1. Smelling Like A Monster: With over 4.1 million views in just 6 days this adorable rendition of the Old Spice Man, brought to you by Grover, is a huge hit for Sesame Street fans of all ages.

2. Blimp Badge: Conan O’Brien’s comeback show on TBS is approaching, and east coast dwellers have a chance at unlocking a unique Foursquare badge for the occasion. If you see the giant orange CONAN blimp overhead make sure to check in!

3. Buying Starbucks for Friends through Facebook: As the 100th My Starbucks Idea this Facebook application allows users to reload the Starbucks cards of their friends. A great way to surprise, celebrate a birthday, or to pay that debt you owe…

4. Diesel Sneakers: Buyer beware. These shoes are “Not made for running. (Great for kicking asses).”

5. Instagram iPhone App: This wildly popular photo app allows users to morph their casual photography into amazing images, and share with friends in the process. Tapping into our egos, it also aggregates the most popular photos – challenging all 100k+ users to get their snapshots noticed.

6. Skype 5.0 Hearts Facebook: Remember when the social(media)ites were predicting a Skype/Facebook mash-up as part of Zuck’s big announcement? Well the new groups took that crown, but the functionality of connecting Skype with Facebook has arrived anyway!

7. Total Eclipse of the Heart Literal Version: I just always love this and wanted to remind all readers that it exists.

As a self proclaimed caffeine addict with an unreasonable loyalty to Dunkin’ Donuts’ hazelnut blend, I couldn’t help but be lured by their latest social media campaign aimed at finding the chain’s number one fan.

Named The Ultimate Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Fan Contest, the contest requires consumers to submit a 60 second or less video to the Dunkin’ Donut’s Facebook page for the chance to win the ultimate Dunkin’-lovers prize – 60 months of free coffee and a trip for two to Costa Rica to tour the Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Lab (a dream come true for a recent college graduate, like myself, who spends a whopping $2.05 on her morning joe).

Contestants can submit their videos through October 20^th. Public voting starts October 21^st; however, 75% of the video’s overall score will come from Dunkin’ judges. In addition to the grand prize, ten Facebook fans will earn 12 months of free coffee.

While Dunkin’ Donuts is no stranger to social media campaigns, this is their first Facebook-only campaign – a very smart strategic move for a company touting over two million Facebook fans.

With many other brands also administering number one fan contests to engage consumers, I believe Dunkin’ will come out on top. Knowing the nature of brand loyalty I can safely assume anyone even half the Dunkin’ devotee I am will be just as eager to jump on this prize.

Twitter has just announced a new site feature called Promoted Accounts that allows brands to gain visibility within Twitter’s “Who to Follow” feature. This new promotional outlet is only a small part of what has come to be a larger ad-servicing platform created by Twitter as a way to monetize its service. Brands now have the ability to promote their account during sign-up, promote their tweets in your feed after sign-up and promote fabricated trending topics to drive conversations around their brand.

To the everyday user these advertising outlets won’t be much of an intrusion; however, I can’t help but think that Twitter is taking away some of the authenticity of the site. Twitter built its brand on the notion that consumers power the content. With dormant accounts growing and login and activity rates shrinking, Twitter may be looking for new ways to improve value coming from the site by pushing brands to users rather than expecting users to find brands themselves.

Twitter recently announced that promoted tweets have a 5x greater click-through than standard web display ads. Whether or not that success will transfer to promoted accounts is still TBD.

Would you like to see promoted content on Twitter? Or would you prefer it be organic?