Social Media
Cottonelle Almost Gets Social
I really enjoyed the Cottonelle “How do you roll?” commercial when I first saw it last week, asking people how they prefer to present their paper, over or under (apparently the answer is over).
But, for a campaign that can get people to the internet pretty easily, their integrated social media, if you can call it that, reminds me more of any empty roll that needs to be replaced.
Yes they have two of their commercial’s characters on Twitter, and a Facebook page, and the poll itself with a nice map of results. But these small efforts are social for social’s sake with very little thought toward tying it all together. They even went out and interviewed folks on the street to add to their actor interviews and put all of it on Youtube, but check out the views on those videos. There is obviously nothing being done to promote them.
It smacks of a brand or agency that thinks social media is suppose to be cheap and easy. I see a multi-million dollar traditional ad campaign and a dollar store social media effort.
There is no effort to engage the consumers, whose attention they are buying with some major TV spots, in a long term way. I am sure the media buys will produce a short bump in sales and if that is all Cottonelle wants, then fine, good show.
But in 2010, pointing people to a micro-site that does not extend the relationship beyond the length of a media buy, is traditional advertising and less effective. The opportunity is to build a community, to engage the consumer in a way that creates a longer term relationship (meaning more money), to ask questions of consumers, to answer questions, to get the people they are pulling in with a clever, simple question, and convert them into spending more time with their brand. Consumers want dialogue.
It is a cute campaign Cottonelle, but perhaps you should consider building consumer relationships with a longer shelf life than say, I don’t know, a roll of toilet paper?
Social Media is Just a Hobby
Jason Falls delivers a little Gary Vaynerchuk impersonation at Social Fresh Nashville, a social media conference for marketers.
A good portion of Social Fresh spoke to what social media can really do for business, including Jason’s talk on “Moving the Needle, Social Media for the Bottom Line”.
In the quick video above, taken at the Social Fresh photo opp zone, Jason recaps why the social media purists (dirty hippies and treehuggers) do not get that if social media is not making you money, it is just a hobby.
Chipotle’s Organic Social Strategy
While I was in Florida preparing for Social Fresh Tampa on Feb 8th, I got the chance to meet and speak with Chris Arnold, Director of Communications for Chipotle Mexican Grill, and we discussed their slow, but deliberate, adoption of social media as a corporate controlled marketing channel.
From taking over a customer created 500,000 fan Facebook page to supporting consumer driven blogging, Chipotle is focused on staying true to their word or mouth and earned media roots while evolving their social media efforts.
Not everyone has the good fortune of a massive and committed fan base, like Chipotle. But for them, their decision to allow their social presence to happen organically is sound. It reminds me of Apple’s no social media policy and Ford’s no blogging decision. When a business generates online communities with their brand loyalty alone, they can definitely skip some steps.
Foursquare Goes to College
100 cities strong since their last roll out, Foursquare seems to be gaining some traction across the country. 
Everyone is making their predictions about whether Foursquare is the next Twitter [including me].
I have been using Foursquare for months now in other cities. When it hit my hometown of Charlotte a couple weeks back, I was surprised how many people jumped on. I had 150 friend requests the day after Charlotte was opened.
UNC Charlotte, my alma mater, only took about a week to see the potential of Foursquare on their campus. Last week they became the first University in the country to offer promotions through Foursquare across their campus.
Foursquare Goes to College
I interviewed Brian Baute, IT Director for Business Services at UNC Charlotte, about what their goals are for using Foursquare campus wide.
According to Foursquare, the only other campuses using their promotions are Columbia, who has one promotion running for their campus movie theater, and Harvard who is developing something campus wide.
College students are an interesting niche for testing Foursquare. While they love their smart phones and Facebook, they are not in tune with much else in the social space.
However, Foursquare is similar to Facebook in the fact that it let’s you see up to the second information about your friends. Foursquare is simple in that respect. I can see college students, who are always looking for the next party, latching on to the “where is everybody at” aspect of Foursquare pretty easily.
4 Reasons Foursquare Will Succeed
Foursquare is a location-based social network. Users “Check-in” at venues via mobile phone, find where friends check-in and are then awarded points and sometimes “badges.”
Dead Simple - There are no photos, videos, comments, or links. It is for you to find where your friends are and discover new places to check out. Those two activities are in high demand for most people. Foursquare is more like Facebook than Twitter in one major way, it focuses on your existing friends. It helps you see where they are right now. Or helps you let your friends know where you are. No more strangers passing in the night.
The Game is the Hook – Even though it is simple and offers value, some people just will write it off as one more of many location based social networks. The game helps get people over the hump of why to join. The game will not work for everyone and many lose interests in games over time. But it is a little bit of sugar on top that will entice many to try it. The information will keep them there.
Businesses Get to Play Right Away – Yes, there is great data being collected on Foursquare. And Yes, there will ultimately be ads I suspect for businesses to pay to play. But right now, any business can go in and watch the check-ins at their establishment. Offer promotions and discounts to anyone near their part of town. And interact with existing and potential customers in a new way. Some location based networks have been around for a year or two and still do not have these opportunities.
Made for Mobile – Foursquare is built from the ground up for smart phones. You do not have to go to their website. You can sign up incredibly easily and quickly. The user interface is very clean and intuitive. The locations can be created on the fly very easily. You can access phone numbers for locations and friends when needed. The platform works perfectly on the go, something that, ironically, many location based social networks have not perfected.
