Archive for June, 2009
Is Your Coffee Profanely Good?
I don’t even drink coffee, but this tempts me to try some to make sure I still don’t like it.
Mystery Engages
Appearing to tape over some key vowels really gets your mind moving… “did someone have to censor this ad?” or “was it a mistake?”
Making people think about something or feel like they are breaking a rule will always engage them.
At the Enterprise 2.0 Conference last week in Boston, I was talking with a new friend about how she got some stickers from one of the vendors but was told “not to tell anyone or give any away”. Even though she saw right through the reverse psychology, it still got her talking about them. Be clever, be mysterious, and engage the mind.
Risky? Yes
Yes it will still piss some people off, and it is a risk, but some of the best marketing takes big risks. It goes up to an edge, implies gratuity, but does not cross over. It messes with you a little, and if you are not too uptight will likely make you laugh.
They are obviously not marketing to a family audience with this sign, they want to shock the poor tired schmo that is walking by, trying to drag himself through another long, dry day. The sign alone, while subtle at first, might just smack the tired off your day. Imagine what the coffee will do. It does not send the wrong message for the audience they are after.
Cocky Can be Cool
Most ads are careful. Most ads are safe. When an ad or branding steps our of the normal, it gets noticed. Most ads are not cocky, this one is, and it makes you wonder why. It is no universal solution, but it is fun when done well.
Does your brand take risks with its marketing?
image via Shiny Things
Giving a Voice to the Neglected
The power of word of mouth travels fast when the story is compelling. This is a very pure concept. Whether it is a mom complaining about a brand she once had trust in or a citizen protesting his country’s election results, the tools of the social web have leveled the playing field. And it is a beautiful thing to behold.
It is no longer an elite few that chooses what media we consume. We all see that daily. The value of a compelling story can project it around the globe in seconds. These same tools that allow many us an amazing marketing channel can be even more powerful as the amplified voice of the neglected.
The power of social media constantly surprises me. When it is adopted as the voice of a cause as powerful as finding a lost child or championing democracy, we should all take pause.
Is social media creating a better world? Yes, and giving a voice to those who deserve to be heard the most is a big piece of that story.
PCWorld – Iran Protests, Tech Tools at Work
CBCNews.ca – Twitter emerges as news source during Iran media crackdown
Tt=elegraph.co.uk – Iran protest news travels fast and far on Twitter
UPDATE (16:33 EST 6.16.09): Twitter’s Biz Stone reacts to allegations that Twitter delayed scheduled downtime, in support of the Iran protests, at the request of the US State Department. I though this quote from Biz was relevant “the open exchange of information is a positive force in the world.”
Make Them Dance
Whether they know why or not, if you make them dance, you are half way there.
The video below is of one solitary guy dancing at an outdoor concert, obviously being filmed because his dancing was far from ordinary. By the end of the 3 minute video the awkward dancer has caused a full on riot of viral dancing. It is truly amazing to watch, and as others have said, a great metaphor of social media and viral marketing.
The lesson? Be remarkable and passionate about what you do. If it is genuine, others will watch, some will join in, and the movement will grow.
Copywriting, Social Media Skills
Jim Mitchem is a copywriter and advertising professional in Charlotte, NC at smashcommunications. Smash is a real advertising agency operating in a virtual work environment.
Copywriting and Social Media
Copywriting is one of those careers that most people don’t understand.
That’s ok, most copywriters don’t understand it either. One day we may be tasked with developing a tagline for a national appeal to millions, and the next we’re writing a mission statement for a local mom-and-pop.
In the past, traditional advertising has provided a range of passive media for copywriters to engaging a specific audience. Social Media (SM) changes everything. No longer is it a one-way conversation between brand and constituency. SM is an active conversation.
Whether it’s providing topical content for a corporate blog, or engaging an audience in real-time via Twitter, the need for effective copywriting is more important today than ever.
The problem is that it’s virtually impossible for every company involved in SM to have a skilled copywriter on staff. Thankfully, there are some universal concepts that anyone using Social media can employ.
Be Polite
When’s the last time the guy at the fast food restaurant smiled and thanked you for buying the cheeseburger combo? Believe it or not, there was once a time when being polite was expected of everyone who actively engaged with a brand’s audience. Phrases like, Thank You, Please and Can I Help You were staples of all customer service. And while it may be too late to reformat a whole generation to making eye contact and thanking someone while you hand them their change, SM presents the opportunity to rebuild how brands service customers. Be polite. Smile when you write.
Respect Language
People think in fragments. They just do. And every audience has a certain vernacular from which to engage in dialogue. Thus, respecting the language is less about the rules of grammar, and more about the rules of spelling. If there’s one thing you take from this post it should be that the quickest way to discredit your brand is to routinely misspell words. If you question the spelling of a word, look it up. If you have to guess, change the word. People notice.
One Word: Yes.
The core purpose of all copywriting is to persuade an audience to think or act favorably. One way to ensure that this happens is to use positive language in conversation. And the most positive word known to man is Yes. Use positive language in your dialogue and you’re going to make people happy. Or, as they say at the sales conventions, ‘all the little yeses add up to the big yes.’
Check out @Jetblue and @TraderJoes on Twitter for good examples of these concepts.
The key is not to try and be witty and clever – leave that to the copywriters. Instead, focus on being genuinely polite, helpful and positive and you’ll be well on your way to developing a smart conversation strategy for your Social Media efforts.
SERIES Social Media Skills — Advertising, SEO, PR, Graphic Design, Copywriting, and more…
New ‘Quirky’ is Crowdsourcing on Crack
Kluster is a cool crowdsourcing community that launched at TED 2 years ago and fosters community collaboration on a unique level. Members submitted problems, suggested solutions, and voted to guide the creation of all kinds of products.
It was wide open, with little direction, creating everything from copywriting to website design to industrial design and more. Since then kluster has tried to focus on more niche collaboration communities and today their newest effort, quirky, went live.
Quirky is focused on industrial and product design, and takes design collaboration to a new level. Creating new products, designing that next cool gadget, is how kluster started. Quirky builds on that idea, the thought that a group of creative people can combine unique ideas to solve simple problems, and profit from them together.
Got some undervalued design skills? Constantly writing down ideas for inventions or new products? Give quirky a go and share your ideas with the world.
Their first product, the slingback, is already for sale. They describe it as the first universal cord retractor. I personally could use a half dozen of these. If industrial designers and idea folk embrace the concept of this community, the possibibillities seem very cool for quirky.
Kluster also brought us the copywriter’s playground that is NameThis.com, another favorite collaboration community.
I dig quirky because it brings an idea platform to the masses, a true outlet. Anyone can take an idea that may better the world, or maybe just improve the modern mousetrap, and share it with the world. Our collective intelligence gets a little more collective with sites like this.
And just imagine what they can do if they team up with charities, helping to design that next great mwater purifyer or mosquito deterent.
