Social Networking

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Retail’s Innovative Cheat Sheet

March 11, 2010 in Integrated Marketing, Mobile, Online, Outdoor, Product Development, Social Networking, Television, word of mouth by Lauren McCabe | No comments

The Retail Innovation and Marketing ConferenceThanks to my experience working with Best Buy last summer, I’ve been able to discover how I can use my passion for media to market companies and products that one would not normally consider “media” entities.  As the market is currently seeing with the creation of the Pepsi Refresh Project and the millions of iPhone applications and Facebook fan pages as examples, marketers are looking to expand their brands not only with their products, but also with entertaining and informative content.  I feel this is truly the future of marketing and communications.

Apparently I’m not alone.  Last week the National Retail Federation held its inaugural Retail Innovation and Marketing Conference in San Francisco.  For anyone who wasn’t able to attend (myself included), they have posted the most amazing blog that shares the highlights of the conference and the little golden nuggets of information shared by some of the industry’s most connected and digitally-savvy professionals.

It’s truly a valuable resource for anyone wanting to learn what’s going on in the industry, but can’t pay the conference fee.  (Me again!)  Enjoy!

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The Proof is in the Pudding

March 5, 2010 in Integrated Marketing, Online, Social Networking by Lauren McCabe | No comments

Earlier this week I wrote a post discussing the question that so many marketers are asking: How do you monetize social networking?  Well, in this month’s Harvard Business Review, Utpal M. Dholakia, an associate professor of marketing at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, describes an experiment he did with local Houston-based bakery Dessert Gallery on Facebook.  Yummmmm!!  (Ok, it wasn’t a taste test.)

Professor Dholakia discusses how he used Dessert Gallery customer survey responses to determine whether or not promoting the bakery chain on Facebook caused great interaction with customers and, ultimately, greater income.  According to the article, people who replied to the survey and who had also become Facebook fans with the bakery wound up being Dessert Gallery’s best customers.  “Though they spent the same amount of money per visit, they increased their store visits per month after becoming Facebook fans and generated more positive word of mouth than nonfans. They went to DG 20% more often than nonfans and gave the store the highest share of their overall dining-out dollars. They were the most likely to recommend DG to friends.”

Using a net promoter score, Professor Dholakia was able to identify Dessert Gallery’s most valuable customers.  This gives the bakery the information it needs to know which customers will be the greatest return on their marketing investment.  While the article points out that further surveying is needed to determine whether this response continues and can lead to long-term decision making, it does show how connecting with customers where they can be talking about your product can absolutely lead to greater business success. 

Sure, being on Facebook and any other social network is an investment of time, but it’s also free.  That tastes good to me!

 

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Driving Social Media

March 1, 2010 in Online, Social Networking, word of mouth by Lauren McCabe | No comments

Social Media ClubAn article in today’s Advertising Age discusses how Toyota is turning to its most loyal fans for support during this very tumultuous public relations period.  According to the article, the car manufacturer has been able to grow its Facebook fan base by more than 10 percent since January.  Toyota has dedicated six to eight employees to monitoring social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and the blogosphere for anyone talking, positively or negatively, about the company and its cars.  Despite a highly criticized public relations response using traditional advertising and communications techniques, Toyota is being highlighted for its social networking efforts.  But, what does this mean for the bottom line?

That’s exactly the question that was posed at last week’s Social Media Club – Chicago event entitled “How Social Media Makes Financial Cents.”   Speakers including Leslie Banks and Drew Methard of Morningstar and uberblogger Shannon Paul discussed how social media is necessary in building relationships with consumers, fans and followers.  While all three panelists admitted that keeping track of what is being said about a brand takes time and money, being there is necessary and the return on investment can be significant. 

Of course, the powers that be will always ask how having tens of thousands of Twitter followers is converting to good old dollars and cents.  However, what the panel and this article on Toyota both show is that no matter what the situation, there will always be someone talking about a brand.  Marketing and communications professionals just need to know where they are and help turn them into a valued partner.

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It’s Hip to Be Square

February 27, 2010 in Games, Integrated Marketing, Mobile, Online, Social Networking by Lauren McCabe | No comments

FoursquareI am the “Mayor” of the Evanston Athletic Club here in Evanston, IL.  Never heard of me?  Well, you must not be one of the hundreds of thousands of people playing Foursquare.  Ok, even if you are, you probably still don’t know me, but if you are a marketer for Chicago Athletic Clubs, Lululemon, Nike, Les Mills Group Fitness Programs or any other fitness-oriented organization you should know me.

Why?  Well, as the “Mayor” of the Evanston Athletic Club, I’m self-identifying myself as the most frequent user of the gym through the mobile location-based-service (LBS) Foursquare.  I’m pretty much giving you information on where I’m going, how often and who I’m meeting up with.  That’s the beauty of LBS platforms like Foursquare.  It’s a consumer data oasis.  All it needs now is more people buying in.

I first learned about Foursquare last year at the MBA Media and Entertainment Conference at Columbia University.  Even after being one of Dennis Crowley’s first followers it did take me almost a year to really get into it.  What did I need?  More friends participating!  But now many of my friends, especially from my Medill IMC program, are getting into it.  And we’re not alone.

Already there are more people using Foursquare in the first year of its inception than what Twitter had on its first birthday.  Plus, A number of marketers like Pepsi, Bravo TV and Zagat guides are already jumping on the bandwagon by using the platform to reach the early adapters.  These marketers are reaching out to users when they “check in” to offer free samples of products and tune-in reminders.  For example, to promote the new movie Valentine’s Day, Warner Brothers reached out to Foursquare users who had checked in at one of ”Makeout Spots” locations listed on the movie’s website.

It’s examples like this that show how much of a gold mine Foursquare can be for marketers.  You are reaching an already engaged and interested fan.  The price of a coupon you can send to that person’s mobile phone is so worth acquiring that person’s loyalty. 

I’m still going to go to the Evanston Athletic Club to work out (I’ve signed a contract), but it wouldn’t hurt getting an occassional free massage or a free pair of yoga pants from Lululemon. (HINT! HINT!)

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Monster Mash

October 28, 2009 in Online, Social Networking by Lauren McCabe | No comments

Jib Jab Watch my video: The McCabe’s Monster Mash

 To celebrate Halloween, the creative geniuses at Jib Jab have created a customizeable “Monster Mash” video where users can upload their own photos, become stars of an internet video and then share the end product with their friends. 

This concept has been around for years as Office Max has had their annual “Elf Yourself” videos and Burger King had the “Simpsonize Me” creator to help promote the 2007 Simpson’s movie.  But this is the first time I’ve seen the technology actively collaborate with Facebook to be a part of the creative process. 

Users can connect to their Facebook accounts to upload photos to be used in the video and once the video is complete, can post it to their profile page, their friends’ pages and email it to everyone they know.  For Jib Jab and Facebook, it’s a great way to create buzz and celebrate a fun holiday.  I just hope my brother doesn’t mind that I turned him into a hairy wolfman!

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Tapping Into Paranormal (Online) Activity

October 19, 2009 in Film, Social Networking, word of mouth by Lauren McCabe | No comments

Paranormal Activity Despite seeing Paranormal Activity over a week ago, I still find myself having trouble falling asleep at night, especially after reading articles about this creepy movie.  In this week’s Time magazine, Richard Corliss writes about how this low budget flick (reportedly $11,000) has become a not-so-sleepy hit. 

Instead of giving the film a traditional marketing plan, film distributor Paramount Pictures released the film as a midnight movie in only 13 college town.  In an age of Facebook, Twitter and blogs, that got the buzz going.  But this isn’t a new tactic.  We’ve seen movies in the past being promoted with their MySpace URL at the end of their trailers. 

What Paramount did was take word-of-mouth to the next level.  The studio made word-of-mouth essential.  In order to see the film, audiences need to request it online.  This decreases the studio’s distribution costs and increases the audiences’ percpetion of power. 

Overall, it has created a true pop culture phenomenon.  Cities all across the country, including Evanston, IL and Norfolk, VA, are getting their chance to cover their eyes and scream with their fellow movie-goers because they are talking about it online and in person.  According to Reuters, the movie has grossed $33.7 million in total box office revenue so far, an amazing feat since it’s only been in 800 theaters nationwide.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see this number go higher as we get closer to Halloween … as long as the buzz continues.

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Blogging for Public Broadcasting

October 16, 2009 in Online, Social Networking, Television by Lauren McCabe | No comments

This weekend PBS and NPR will be teaming up with American University’s Center for Social Media for the PublicMediaCamp (PubCamp).  According to its website, PubCamp is an initiative to strengthen the relationship that public broadcasters have with their communities through the creation of collaborative projects. 

As a former employee of PBS, I think an initiative like this is right on.  The beauty of public broadcasting is the connection that each local station has with its community.  Sure, as the marketing lead for school-age children’s programming like WordGirl and Martha Speaks I was sometimes frustrated when implementing  national campaigns since it’s not guaranteed that all PBS stations would use the materials we provided.  However, these stations know their cities best.  What’s good for WETA (Washington, DC) may not be best for KUAT (Tucson, AZ).

Getting local stations to have more direct conversations with their local viewers through social networking is a win for stations and a win for public broadcasting as a whole.  Direct viewer feedback and conversations will not only allow stations to create more targeted messaging about their programs, but also create more successful programming overall.

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