experience matters

Jessi Odenbach | Critical Mass Chicago

The quest for who should “control” a social media campaign seems never ending. This is a debate that I’ve had with friends working across the communications industry. And while this should never turn into a personal attack, it absolutely turns into a battle big enough for the WWE. Not only are is this power struggle happening internally between departments, but externally between digital agencies, PR firms and social boutiques all vying for the social slice of the client’s business.

The importance of figuring out this debate once and for all reminds me a lot of Duane “the Rock” Johnson’s eyebrow–they’re both on the rise. Think about the training, the tone and the niche audience. It’s a battle royale, locked in a cage with a ladder, and only one competitor is coming out alive. Maybe it’s not that extreme, but from where I sit, the stakes are pretty high.That’s why I’ve set out to moderate this discussion at SxSW 2011. Bringing in perspectives from Pizza Hut, Infiniti, and Mashable, we can look at all of these considerations and more to help us decide, once and for all… Who owns social?

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Scott Shamberg | Critical Mass Executive

SxSW is months away still, but the big ideas that make up the big weekend are already up and ready for votes! There are so many awesome ideas out there that sometimes it’s hard to choose which to vote for! Let me help you. Breaking News: Front Page or Top Tweet is a panel idea discussing the issue of how breaking news should be announced. For anyone who is intrigued about WikiLeaks, loves discussing breaking news on Twitter, or fancies themselves a “Citizen Journalist,” this panel will be right up your alley.

While many people are accustomed to their daily doses of CNN, New York Times or your local news source, the twitter-sphere seems to be finding it easier and more exciting to get it from social networks of choice. With the myriad digital channels that exist today, nearly every traditional consumption pattern has changed in some way. We’ve all grown quite satisfied with the complete control we have over information.

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Lindsay Renwick | Critical Mass Toronto

Flickr announced a new suite of features last week, including a larger photo display size, navigation upgrades and a slightly altered look and feel. In the immediate aftermath of the announcement, user reaction was  fairly predictable. Some jumped to the beta version weeks ago by clicking the jaunty “Take me to the future!” invitation and never looked back.  Some users avoided the change until the last minute and then seemed both shocked and upset once there was no turning back.

Looking at comments on message boards and on Twitter, it’s fair to say that this upgrade has been a success for Flickr, with encouraging comments outweighing the negativity. User experience experts worldwide must be applauding the fact that one of the world’s largest photo hosting sites has finally added a simple “< previous | next >” link adjacent to the image display, a feature that was conspicuously (and obnoxiously) absent from the previous version. The site is now considerably lighter too – according to CNET, Flickr will double upload speeds.

So why are people getting riled up and how should Flickr respond? Read More

Celia Jones | Critical Mass Chicago

If you’re in the working world, you’ve probably sat through a 401(k) benefits meeting and heard the spiel:

“Saving for retirement is really important. And if you just set aside a little bit per day, you won’t even feel the contributions coming out of your paycheck. For example: think about how many times you go for that morning coffee at Starbucks. Now do the math. $5 per day x 7 days a week x 52 weeks in a year…”

When it’s framed like that, it’s hard to argue that a daily Starbucks fix can add up to a pretty hefty dent in your bank account. Yet interestingly, roughly a week ago, Starbucks became the first brand to surpass the 10-million-fan mark.

From a Luxury Brand to a Listening Brand

In these tight, recessionary times, with unemployment rampant and people everywhere feeling the financial pinch, Starbucks, once an icon of edible luxury, has emerged as a winner, warming consumers’ hearts like a peppermint latte on cold winter day.

It wasn’t too long ago that Starbucks was dubbed a brand in crisis with eroding sales, rampant store closings and plummeting stock prices. But now, in August of 2010, they are firmly on the rebound and own boasting rights as part an elite group: the 10 million fan club, which includes such social media superstars as Lady Gaga and President Obama. So how did they do it?

Continue to Starbucks’ 6 Tips to Inspire Action with Social Media.

Alyssa Rosengarden | Critical Mass Chicago

Do you remember when Facebook was a college-only network? You could only join the website if you had a valid university email and you knew, no matter what, the only people that would be able to find you would be college buddies. As a measly high school-er at the time, I was very disappointed that I would not be able to join too. But lo and behold, right when I became a high school senior, the flood gates opened and everyone was able to join Facebook. And in an instant, everything changed.

All social networking sites have come miles from where they started. Even Foursquare, which is relatively new to the game, has changed dramatically since it first went live. Location based services are now all the rage, while “liking” something has become a universally understood verb. But now what? What is next for these communication beasts?  These sites create ‘citizen journalists’ out of all of us and people are taking this responsibility in all different directions. In fact, many people have accepted the role of breaking news on sites like Twitter and Facebook, which opens up a whole new can of worms.

Citizen journalism through social media sites has become a recently accepted trend. People Tweet about political elections and World Cup winners even before news outlets have a chance to process the facts. So when it comes to being citizen journalists (as we all have) and that little issue of freedom of speech, should there be a line drawn when it comes to breaking news?

Take for example, General Stanley McChrystal. Most of you probably followed the story about how the General made inappropriate remarks to a Rolling Stone reporter during an interview. Afterwards, you probably found out that he stepped down from his position and was replaced by General David Petraeus. But you probably also found this entire story out before the issue of Rolling Stone took the stand. The story was buzzing around the Internet, and particularly social networking sites, before anyone could contain it. Yes, everyone was going to find out eventually. But is it really our responsibility to break news as big (and possibly sensitive) as this? According to Twitter and our very own government, yes it is.

What do you think? Is this going overboard or Constitutional rights? Alyssa’s opinion here.

Jeana Anderson | Critical Mass Chicago

The social media marketer’s dream came true over at Old Spice over the past two days. The brand’s latest campaign by Wieden + Kennedy was translated into real-time, branded video responses to social media fans and followers. If you weren’t watching along in awe with me, or if you ignored all social media in general, you may have missed it. If that’s the case, here’s a recap:

The campaign developed originally for TV is over-the-top masculine, peppered with hyperbole stated as hilarious science. When combined with the nearly perfect casting of the ruggedly attractive Isaiah Mustafa, who is every woman’s kryptonite and every man’s idol, viral sharing of these videos was imminent. A phrase from one of the earliest ads exemplifies the tone of the entire campaign: “Did you know that women prefer Old Spice for their men one bajillion times more than lady-scented body washes?”

Riding the horse of popularity associated with the ironic campaign, Mustafa holed up in what appeared to be a bathroom, setting out to thank influencers (read: celebrities and bloggers with a large following) including Ellen Degeneres, Perez Hilton, and The Chicago Blackhawks. He also answered questions from fans–all in the exaggerated tone of the original campaign. Memorable moments from the two day real-time YouTube video onslaught included the spokesperson pausing to facilitate a fan’s proposal to his girlfriend, shooting down an offer for coffee from @Starbucks and putting to rest rumors that he was masking the voice of a nerd. In slightly over 24 hours since the marriage proposal video was posted on YouTube, it has been viewed 269,203 times and counting.

Each video in the series reeks of manly, unabashed confidence, and based on a search of Social Mention, we are eating it up: the brand is mentioned in social media every 39 seconds.

Aside from its novelty, uniqueness and incredibly sharable nature, there were some strong points to this real-time-video-production-marathon that made it even more extraordinary (and more viral) than the original. Or as the Old Spice Man may put it, virally viral videos that were viraler than the viral originals.

But what makes it extraordinary? Read More

Andrea Donatucci | Critical Mass Chicago

Last week, I attended the Chicago AMA BrandSmart Event “Staying Relevant in an ever changing world.” The day started with an inspiring keynote presentation from Walgreen’s CMO Kim Feil called “Changing Times at Walgreens- There’s A Way.” She explained how her team is working to change consumer perceptions and emerge as the preferred and trusted health services provider. With their new brand campaign “There’s A Way,” Walgreens is moving beyond the trusted traditional channels of TV and print and expanding into digital (online advertising as well as the largest out of home digital display in Times Square) to deliver integrated messaging and a more consistent customer experience.

What made her presentation especially fitting to the theme of the day was her own personal story… her first day as the new CMO at Walgreens was the same day that Wall Street experienced its biggest one day drop ever. Her “best laid” plans of transforming the brand were immediately revisited with the lens and added pressure of compelling consumers to spend (in especially trying economic times).

Beyond the keynote, I tried a sampling of breakout sessions from the available tracks of Innovation, Engagement and Social Media. My favorite presentation was one entitled “Diving into the Social Media Mosh Pit” given by Melissa Meulenberg, ecommerce Manager for the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago.

My reason for selecting this session was two-fold: the title sounded pretty interesting, plus this particular hotel is located across the street from the CM Chicago office and has been the topic of much conversation… but more about that later.

Melissa is a marketing department of one so I was immediately impressed by her simple but efficient methods of staying aware of the brand dialog that is in play on Twitter, Facebook and Trip Advisor. She told many stories about being tuned into what current and past guests were posting and responding quickly. Some of the major themes:
1.   Selecting the sites in which you wish to join the dialog
2.   Setting aside time each day to respond to posts and contribute new, relevant content (not solely promoting or talking about your brand)
3.   Turning fans of your brand into public advocates.
• Hard Rock has an outreach to encourage those with positive hotel experience to share their story on Trip Advisor
• Their ranking on Trip Advisor has moved up 30 spots among Chicago hotels in last 18 months to #46
4.   Proactively searching for comments about your brand as a Customer Service opportunity (before, during or after the experience with your brand).
• When comments are overly negative, taking action privately first and then publicly to remedy the situation
• Also taking action when posts give the opportunity to turn a good experience into an extraordinary one

All of the stories were entertaining, but the following account is my favorite.

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Lauren Ysseldyke | Critical Mass Chicago

Being new to CM and the Experience Distribution team, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to attend Digg’s Social News & Social Marketing Summit and meet the mastermind behind Digg.com, Kevin Rose (@kevinrose). While listening to Kevin talk about Digg’s place in the social space, its upcoming new Digg platform (to be released in a month or so) and marketing concepts in a constantly changing social media world, I realized how extremely important it is today for marketers to know how to find a role in social media. With today’s audience immersed in a “snack culture” (as Kevin put it) of wanting online content in short, interactive form, marketers must learn to cater to these needs when it comes to advertising and building brands. Kevin has learned this concept well through his creation of Digg.com. Falling in a social space between Facebook and Twitter, Digg.com offers its “snack culture” audience a customizable news experience in which content is driven by the audience itself in a concise and interactive format.

“Snack culture” wasn’t the only concept I found interesting and relevant to the CM team and other marketers today. After listening to marketing panelists, Daina Middleton, Sloan Broderick, Rick Wion and Chas Edwards, I took away several necessities to making it as a marketer in an increasingly digital and social media driven world. Here are my top five picks:

1.    Role in Social Media: Before diving into the world of social media, it’s crucial for marketers and clients to talk about what each partner’s role should be for social media…Creative? Curator? Publisher? Sloan Broaderick (Managing Director, MediaCom) went into a great story about how Audi follows this concept and focuses on building brand relationships before people even enter the purchase stage. “If you’re just hearing about Audi when you’re ready to make a car purchase then we’re already too late,” Sloan says.

2.    3 Universal Categories of Digital Marketing: Daina Middleton (CEO, Performics) stressed the importance of dividing the digital marketing space into three categories of owned, earned and paid. Owned includes your own controlled assets (websites, commercials, videos); earned includes social and social monitoring and paid includes distribution. Then each of these channels/categories have a different purpose and a different set of goals/KPIs. This is very similar to how CM views the digital space and how the Experience Distribution team is structured. Whereas the rest of the CM company is dedicated to the owned category, the Experience Distribution team is divided into both an earned and a paid media group.

What else? Transparency, Measurement, iAds…and the future.

Jeana Anderson | Critical Mass Chicago

In his recent blog post, CM Executive Scott Shamberg answered some of the top questions he fielded at a recent forum. One of which revolved around making social media relevant for smaller-scale, local efforts. He defined the makings of a successful local-focused social media campaign as relevance. Specifically, “any offer or service that is relevant to me in my geographic world.” I absolutely agree with Scott. When localizing social media, relevance to the user’s life is above all the most important feature of strategy.

Considering what other guidelines are necessary, I’ve developed the SHARE framework to help you shape your future local efforts. By grouping relevance with these five strategic considerations (that just so happen to spell the word SHARE—one of the central drivers behind consumers desire to localize), a brand can create content that will be of value to its consumer at various important and specific geographic points throughout his day.

Save Time: Time is one of the most valuable resources we have and consumers have an insatiable appetite for time saving tools. Share content with your users that will help them accomplish their goals or manage their time better. A great example of this within my city is the Chicago Transit Authority’s Bus Tracker. I seldom give props to the CTA, however this tool allows users to answers the great unknowns of public transit including “will it be faster for me to wait for the express bus that stops where I’m standing?” In creating this simple tool, it’s obvious that the CTA asked the following necessary questions: 1. What will make my demographics goals more achievable when we know their location? 2. Where will I put content so that it is easy to find or access on the go?

Help: Localized and location-based social media content, when done well, will allow a brand to share almost altruistically within a branded strategy, while maintaining a human and helpful voice. This ideally fosters Online sharing without requesting it of consumers. Charmin’s Sit or Squat, is a very specific example of this. The location-based network is filled with information to help its users find a public toilet based on their location. This network is a natural fit for Charmin and gives seriously useful information for any civilized human looking to meet basic hygienic needs.

Apply Insights: When a brand builds its location-based campaign on what’s unique about its target, it can successfully foster a community of repeated users that will interact with and share relevant information. One local social program by Purina leverages the brand’s learnings on its community of pet lovers. Purina uses the Petcentric Places app to put its Petcentric community in touch with locations and resources to make their dogs’ lives better. Offering tips on everything from dog sitters and walkers to bars, restaurants and lodging that allow for four-legged visitors, this app has the potential to really deliver for its target. Based on iTunes ratings, there are a few complaints on the amount content and usability, but if time is invested by Purina and its community to develop a more robust set of tips this app will be perfect for the pet-minded.

What about the R and E? Read More

Lindsay Renwick | Critical Mass Toronto

With Quit Facebook Day nearly a month behind us, I think it’s fairly safe to conclude that the 400 million-strong social network will likely live to see the end of the summer. Some users are still grumbling, but very few of them are actually leaving.

Oh Facebook, what happened to us? We used to be so happy together.

Something changed this year, of that there can be no doubt. Something besides the shifting privacy policies that angered the public and politicians alike. As Facebook’s users moved more of our daily communication onto the platform, our attitudes seemed to change toward it. It was no longer cool and new. It became simply a part of our lives, an expected convenience and a service provider, like the phone company.

Does anyone remember back in 2007, when the little juggernaut that could was still on the cutting edge? Entire cities vied to add the largest number of users in the shortest time. I clearly recall the brief, shining moment when Canada was Facebook’s fastest growing market. How we congratulated ourselves, how we supported the brand and gave our friends and families the ultimatum – join now, or forever lose access to my vacation pictures.

I suppose nothing lasts forever, and social media properties have tended in the past to have the lifespan of fruitflies. It makes sense that with the public’s ardor cooled and after weathering a few controversies, pundits should be anticipating Facebook’s pending demise.

Remember when the mythical issue of high-schooler flight was going to take Facebook down? Fickle youth, disenchanted by friend requests from their grandparents, were slated to disappear in droves and take their cred and the network’s raison d’être with them. Look at MySpace, we were urged, if you want to see what happens to a social network that loses touch with the kids.

Well, MySpace only ever really had the kids, so naturally when most of their 43 million-strong base flocked elsewhere it had little choice but to become “the abandoned amusement park of the internet.” Not so Facebook, whose multigenerational user base skews to the Head of Household segment so beloved by advertisers, and whose massive volume of users can easily handle shifts in the tens of thousands without significantly destabilizing the system.

Also, when the kids fled MySpace, guess where they went? Between September 2008 and September 2009, MySpace’s social network share dropped by 55% while Facebook’s grew by 194%*.

How would we go about replacing Facebook? Read More