What’s the Worst That Could Happen?

Never underestimate the power of an irrate mother. One disgruntled and ‘shocked’ Glaswegian parent went head to head with Coca-Cola after a promotional campaign for Dr. Pepper on Facebook saw references to an infamous porn video appear on her 14 year old daughters status updates.

Part of the ‘What’s the Worse That Could Happen’ creative, Coca-Cola developed a Facebook application which was made available on the Dr Pepper Facebook page. Fans of the brand were able to enter a competition whereby they could win £1000 if they gave the brand access to their Facebook status updates. So what’s the worse that could happen?

In theory users status updates were to be ‘hijacked’ and embarrassing messages posted such as: “Lost my special blankie. How will I go sleepies?“, “What’s wrong with peeing in the shower?” and “Never heard of it described as cute before.” These updates would have only been visible to each individuals ‘friends’ on the site.

However one 14 year old’s Facebook status update read: ‘I watched 2 girls one cup and felt hungry afterwards’. For those of you currently polishing your halo and whose retina’s aren’t scarred by that video, this is a pretty disgusting remark….this particular video is one of those for which hundreds of ‘reaction videos’ have been uploaded to YouTube – it’s that gross! Continue reading »

Old Spice Guy Makes Twitter Fan’s Marriage Proposal

The shirtless, buff, Old Spice guy came onto our screens back in February as part of a successful TV ad campaign for the brand. Within a fortnight the YouTube video had over 2.9 million views and Old Spice guy even made it on to the Ellen DeGeneres show in the US -- such was the ads popularity. The brands social media campaign has been picking up pace in the last couple of weeks. The latest viral sensation, Old Spice have started to create customised videos for key influencers on sites such as Twitter and Facebook -- the likes of Perez Hilton have the Old Spice dude talking directly to them.

The brands simple strategy -- to target bloggers and social-media savvy celebrities with large online followings -- quickly paid off as those who had received a video, shouted it out to all their followers online.

They have now started creating some personalised adverts for ‘average Joe’s’. An Old Spice Twitter fan called Johannes S. Beals tweeted on Monday, “Can U Ask my girlfriend to marry me? Her name is Angela A. Hutt-Chamberlin”. Sure enough Old Spice dude obliged and proposed to Angela:

….and Angela said yes. Romantic -- no. A good story to tell the grandkids -- definitely.

You’ll notice that the personalised videos are all done to the same backdrop…it’s the innovative concept, unique script and drole humour that make the videos a success so they can get away with putting the same green screen background…all eyes are on the ‘hunk’ after all! A great way for the brand to get maximum mileage out of a great concept and reach a huge number of potential customers very cost-effectively.

By the way -- Old Spice guy’s real name is Isaiah Mustafa…alas he shall be forever known as Old Spice guy.

B2B Online Networking Brings in New Business

‘Social networking…that’s just for the likes of Coca Cola and Nike isn’t it? We’re mainly focused on B2B communications so it doesn’t really apply to us.’

If you’ve heard that before then read on.

“A Global Survey of Business Social Networking“, commissioned by Regus has revealed that 40% of companies globally have successfully used social networks to find new customers, dispelling the ideas promoted by social media critics that such online channels fail to generate leads or new business.

As a result of the success of online strategies, 27% of businesses worldwide actively devote marketing budget to social media activity in order to reach and retain customers according to the report.

Apparently size does matter when it comes to leveraging the power of social media to benefit your business…but only slightly. Smaller companies (44%) seem to have more success in acquiring new customers through online networks, as compared to medium companies (36%) and large firms (28%). This is probably due to the fact that smaller companies are more focused on retaining existing business, spending more time maintaining their network of contacts online. The fact that, for a small firm with limited budget, networking online costs nothing but time probably also plays a role in their increased success as smaller firms turn to the web to cost-effectively supplement their traditional marketing strategies.

So how are firms using these online networks?

• To stay in touch with business contacts(58%)
• Getting together with special interest groups (54%)
• Finding out useful business information (54%)
• Organising/connecting/managing customer groups (51%)
• To find a new job (22%)

Who are using business social networks most?

Perhaps unsurprisingly the ICT, Retail, Media & Marketing and Consultancy sectors were above average in their use of business social networks. Those communications-savvy businesses realise that they can’t afford not to have as strong a network online as they do offline.

Who are lagging behind?

Those businesses who are traditionally focussed on B2B communications and are heavily regulated – Manufacturing, Financial Services and Healthcare – were below average in the use of business social networks.

All that said, social media sceptics still exist. Of the 15,000 respondents across 75 countries, 34% did not believe social networks will ever be a significant method of reaching customers and prospects. However this report clearly shows that a growing number of companies are using the internet to source information, foster relationships with current customers and most importantly to generate new business. As word of successful social media strategies spreads to the sceptics its unlikely they’ll be able to keep their mouse at arms length for long…nothing changes minds like money!

Full report here.

Taking the Twit out of Twitter

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Dublin Web Summit. Ray Nolan, one of the speakers and Founder of HostelWorld.com and Worky.com, made a comment that stuck in my mind. He advised not to “tweet away your career” as he believes if you’re on Twitter all the time during your work day then you’re probably not doing your work and are therefore potentially less employable.

I would imagine that everyone reading this has at one time said that “so and so” is “always on Twitter”…how do they do it? There’s no big secret. These people are not glued to their PC, dashing out on occasion for a sneaky toilet break. Only 25% of Twitter traffic comes from the website Twitter.com. Most people use a few third party Twitter applications set up that allow them to conveniently update their profile, regardless of where they are.

So what tools can you use to allow you to use Twitter with ease? Continue reading »

Study: Brands That Do Better Online Do Better Financially

I came across an interesting study over the weekend of the World’s “100 most valuable brands” which concluded that there was a clear and significant relationship between quality online consumer engagement and financial performance.

Wetpaint/Altimeter group looked at how well these brands were engaging with consumers using social media and “how that engagement correlates with their most important financial metrics: revenue and profit“.

They found that “socially engaged companies are in fact more financially successful“.

The report below provides brief case studies on four of the top brands – Starbucks, Toyota, SAP and Dell – looking at the strategies behind their success using social media. Interestingly Starbucks although a humongous global brand has a relatively small social media team of only six people, yet has one of the largest fan bases on Facebook and over quarter of a million Twitter followers.

What were the takeaway points for someone readying to implement a social media strategy for their business?

• Engagement via social media IS important — and we CAN quantify it.
• What’s in it for me? The report quantitatively demonstrates a statistically significant correlation between social media engagement and the two most meaningful financial performance metrics – revenue and profit. Money talks, and it’s declaring that it pays to engage meaningfully in social media.
• Emphasize quality, not just quantity. Don’t just check the box; engage with your customer audience.
• To scale engagement, make social media part of everyone’s job. A few minutes each day spent by every employee adds up to a wealth of customer touch points.
• Doing it all may not be for you — but you must do something or risk falling far behind other brands, not only in your industry, but across your customers’ general online experience.
• Find your sweet spot. Engagement can’t be skin-deep, nor is it a campaign that can be turned on and off. If you are resource-constrained, it is better to be consistent and participate in fewer channels than to spread yourself too thin.