Monthly Archives: October 2009
This weekend, the world gathered around one iconic idea: 350ppm.
350 parts per million is the level of CO2 many climate scientists agree is the safe upper limit of carbon in our air (we’re at about 390, by the way). But that’s not all 350ppm is. It’s also one of the strongest examples of social media optimization the world has ever seen.
To help promote its International Day of Climate Action (last Saturday, 10/24), 350.org simply asked supporters to use a special hashtag in related tweets: #350ppm. According to search.twitter.com, it was used 1,500 times over the weekend (10/23-10/26).
The Day of Climate Action was a rousing success. 181 countries participated (meaning fewer than 15 didn’t), and there were 5,245 events across the globe.
As for SMO success, 350.org now has over 10,000 Twitter followers. They’re ranked #43 in the “Everywhere” region (via Twitterholic). 350’s most recent Influence score from Twitalyzer is a “profound” 64 of 100, after a recent increase of 31,900%. Twitalyzer bases Influence on Reach (followers), Authority (getting retweeted), Generosity (RT’ing others), and Clout (getting mentioned). 350’s Clout score is 100 of 100, unchanged in the recent past.
On Sunday, 350’s Day of Climate Action was the most talked-about news story on the planet – tops on CNN, The New York Times, Le Monde, Google News, and more. The top Google headline was “Campaign Against Emissions Picks Number,” due in no small part to thousands of participants using “350.” For Sunday and Monday, the story of 350 got more impressions than any other in the world.
I attended the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer last week here in Chicago and learned a lot that will eventually translate into the creative work we do for our clients.
But this conference illuminated a change in the learning process, altogether. It showed me why agencies like Critical Mass must be involved in these conversations as well as the changing ways we can use these events to inform our work moving forward.
The Snowball Starts Rolling
This was a different kind of conference. From the start, a strong symphony of tweets and a streaming video feed allowed everyone in the world to feel as though they were there. There were no firewalls – everyone was encouraged to share.
To distill and salvage the best ideas, attendees were asked to submit and vote on the best insights from the conference – in a sense, crowdsourcing reference material.
These small bits of data – tweets, quick insights, even over-heard conversation – were collected and documented. Blog posts tallied quick insights (by @damphoux) or categorized learnings (by @anetah) or took more time to provide longer, more detailed lists (by @JayBaer).
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It’s Forrester time again! Critical Mass is a Gold Sponsor at this year’s Forrester Consumer Forum being held at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago today, October 27 and October 28. If you’re attending the conference, we’re at Booth #107 so stop by and say hi. We’ll be tweeting from the event (@criticalmass) and Forrester has set up a hash tag (#FCF09) so you can follow all the conference happenings.
The theme of the conference this year is “creating breakthrough multichannel relationships with the three-dimensional consumer.” It’s certainly a challenge that our clients—across every vertical and horizontal—are wrestling with, and it’s the core problem that our Experience Distribution team is focused on solving: With the multitude of channels available to marketers today, where should you place your bets?
In keeping with the theme, our own CEO Dianne Wilkins, along with Billy Vassiliadis, CEO of R&R Partners, will be presenting a case study at Forrester today on how our agencies activated a 360° Customer Experience framework to drive tourism to the city of Las Vegas during these troubled economic times. Below are the details so you can check it out:
“Viva Las Vegas!” by Critical Mass and R&R Partners @ 2:45-3:15pm TODAY!
When the stakes are high, it pays to listen. The current economic trials have caused unprecedented adversity for the tourism industry: high gas prices, low consumer confidence, and the economy in decline have created a perfect storm of reasons not to travel. Yet, through it all, Las Vegas has persevered. Learn how the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Critical Mass, and R&R Partners have kept Las Vegas on the map as the No. 1 tourist destination by bringing Vegas to life — through the eyes of real people who experienced it.
• See how an integrated 360-degree marketing strategy kept Las Vegas rolling despite the odds.
• Discover how social channels, from word of mouth to viral campaigns, can create a groundswell of passionate advocates for your brand.
• Understand how to listen, learn, and continually adapt your strategy to stay on top.
We’ll be posting more from the event as it happens. Rumor has it there will be a “surprise guest” visiting our booth during the cocktail hour tonight! Stay tuned…
IE6 denial message for Momentile.com By John Martz
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![gavel[1]](http://experiencematters.criticalmass.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/gavel11.jpg "gavel[1]")
In Jan 2009, the FTC released proposed guidelines for marketing in social media. The FTC understands the role and influential impact of social media marketing and wanted to update its 29-year old guidelines to reflect this understanding. WOMMA worked directly with its members and the FTC to submit feedback and shape these guidelines which were released, in the form of a 100 page document, on Monday, October 5. They will go into effect on December 1, 2009.
These guides can be used by any law enforcement agency or consumer class action cases. Because other legal avenues can use these guides, no party is too small to be caught and fined.
Highlights
• Any sponsored communication is subject to regulation.
• Any relationship between blogger and advertiser must be disclosed i.e. a blogger must identify when he is speaking on behalf of an advertiser. The FTC equates an influencer who has been given consideration to a paid review or review by an employee
• Any kind of consideration that goes from an advertiser to the blogger must be disclosed. This includes cash payment, gifted product or service, and likelihood of future receipts of compensation or products/services.
• Celebrities must disclose their relationships with advertisers when endorsing products outside of traditional advertising, including blogs and twitter feeds. Other examples include talk show and other public appearances.
• Performance claims must represent typical results and have supporting evidence. Safe-harbor disclaimers like “results may vary” will no longer satisfy these guidelines.
The marketing premise behind luxury brands used to be mystique. If you want the brand to be aspirational then create an aura that is, in fact, difficult to obtain. Tag lines like ‘The Crowning Achievement”, “Unlike Any Other” and of course “Don’t Dream It, Drive It” all ooze with the idea that ‘this brand is not for everyone’. Well, that decision is not up to the marketer anymore. If it used to be mystique, today it is transparency.
Last week I spoke at a breakfast put together by Milton Pedraza and his Luxury Institute. I expected a novice audience and while a few did fit that bill, most were already down the road of embracing today’s digital luxury consumer.
The point of my discussion was that in order to blend high touch, a key element to luxury, and high tech, a key element of today’s digital consumer, brands have to understand that time is the new luxury. If I’m buying a Jaguar I am spending just as much time learning about the brand and the product as the person who is buying a Chevy. Where I do that learning is, for the most part, based on my time.
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