A deep dive into digital marketing

There is no I in team but there is a me

Posted by Chris under Advertising, Community, I wish I'd thought of that, Research

Mad Men leaves TV

Posted by Chris under Advertising, I wish I'd thought of that, Social Networking, Twitter

Well not really but they did jump on Twitter. A few days ago, when I was slightly checked out on vacation; yes I was hitting the tables in Vegas and yes did leave with more then I arrived with. Something happened in the twitter space.

Man Men characters, no not the actors, the characters started twittering. I noted it the other day, and thought wow what a great campaign by AMC. Plenty of people tweeted that it not only wasn’t AMC but it was passionate fans that were then shut down by AMC.

But then smartly brought back.

I’m in a brainstorm right now and we’re talking about how to create, tap into and use word of mouth marketing and fan passion. But can we really, as marketer, create this?

David Armano blogged about how this is creating new rules. I’ll build on this it’s not just rule changing and another nod to the power of consumers; it can not just be created, as in let’s create word of mouth marketing.

The people behind, part of, and living wearesterlingcooper.com are not only fans, they are spot on writers, characters and create an interaction the brings to show to life.

Now I’m an ad guy, have been since I sold sweet corn to local grocery stores when I was 11 and there are times that I can be pretty darn cynical about the business. But I love Mad Men. The writing, the sets, the cinematography and even the pacing, it almost feels like a guilty pleasure to watch. And it’s even more a guilty pleasure to take the time out to tweet with the characters. And I have to admit it’s been quite fun to tweet with Betty Draper.   What started as a coffee stained shirt turned into Betty giving me advice on how to clean it with alcohol and later comments on my new cufflinks, which my wife echoed when I got home.

And you know, I love the show even more now. I’m part of the feedback loop and have told at least a dozen people this morning alone about the show and the twittering. A few haven’t seen the show, but they are interested now.

So one person told ten people who told…

If only we could “make” passionate fans but we can’t. But we can create a great experience and one in which we can hope to ignite and then fan the flames our our passionate audience.

Because when you have a fan base who writes a manifesto (below) like the folks at wearesteerlingcooper you truly have created something beautiful

Fan fiction. Brand hijacking. Copyright misuse. Sheer devotion. Call it what you will, but we call it the blurred line between content creators and content consumers, and it’s not going away. We’re your biggest fans, your die-hard proponents, and when your show gets cancelled we’ll be among the first to pass around the petition. Talk to us. Befriend us. Engage us. But please, don’t treat us like criminals.

This site exists to catalogue the conversation around AMC’s Mad Men and its fanbase across the social web. But it’s just the beginning. ‘We are Sterling Cooper’ is a rallying cry to brands and fans alike to come together and create together.

Today’s time waster and great online advertising

Posted by Chris under Advertising, Flash, I wish I'd thought of that

How can you resist yearbook yourself. Check it out here but as you are playing note that hey this is also advertising. The links go to actual stores in an actual mall. Seeming done by Taubman a property investment/mgmt. company, not only is this super fun to play with but what a great way to get the word out about your stores.

Kudos!

Social Media, look in the mirror first

Posted by Chris under Advertising, I wish I'd thought of that, Social Networking

The other day, Greg Verdino wrote a great post yesterday entitled “Social media: lipstick on a pig or total makeover?” Can I say spot on.

In summary the article is about the hypocrisy of companies using social media or wanting to use social media for marketing when they don’t use it themselves. Thanks Greg I couldn’t agree more!

He goes on to say “If you ask me, starting with social media marketing can often amount to nothing more than putting lipstick on the pig (and yep, the pig in this case is your old school “anti-social” company.)  I can’t tell you how often marketers ask me for advice on how to use social media to reach new customers and sell more stuff, yet have never even considered how they can use the very same (or similar) tools to work better, smarter and cheaper themselves.  Worse still are those companies that seem hell-bent on marketing through social media yet can’t even access social media sites from within their firewalls.”

Then lists seven points that we should all be asking ourselves and our companies.

His point #3 is a big flag waver for me. “How might a private online community enable me to collaborate more seamlessly with my clients, investors and outside business partners?” Tools like Ning can change the way we collaborate not only with clients but also with our audience. Forrester has had some great white papers regarding the connected agency or help wanted 21st century agency, both of which I’d submit are must reads.

But as Greg points out if we don’t use/act/do internally we’re not only missing out we’re selling ourselves short. So let’s all wake up or wake up those around us!

Are you in the Tribe

Posted by Chris under Advertising, I wish I'd thought of that, Social Networking, Technology, trends

Call it smart marketing or eating your own dog food but Seth Godin is pushing his new book building community in a pretty interesting new way. First you have to buy pre-order his book then you may be admitted into his”tribe for marketers” after you jump through a few small hoops.

An invitation only, spots are limited, membership has it’s privileges kind of site which I of course could not resist signing up for.

Are you in the tribe?

As a note I got my auto response back, I like that they are using Ning for the community, that’s really eating your own dog food!

note per Seth’s request I took the email down, I’d posted the email response I’d gotten from them. (you’ll see his reply below) Happy to do so!

are you representing?

Posted by Chris under Community, Fashion, I wish I'd thought of that

T-shirts as always seem to be the ultimate way to represent. From Threadless, the ultimate in crowdsourcing design, to natch, one of my favorites, SevenTenths. Maybe it’s me but there are t-shirts that I just can’t seem to part with, that have some special hold for what they represent. Some are trips to far away places, others are a reminder of a time/event/thing sometime in the past. Maybe it’s just a Gladwellian pull for me, that upon sight they immediately conjure up a feeling.

So when along comes a couple guys hawking T’s that represent each and every one of the Chicago El stops, well they just might get my $15. Afterall what says Cubby or Sox fan more then sporting the appropriate T/el stop. And what’s more green then giving prop’s to public transportation.

Put this in the “I wish I’d thought of that”