Because it seems to me that, except in special situations, people don’t think of businesses in “business terms”. This seems to be an anomaly, because we think of other things such as clothing (flashy, sturdy, trendy), technology (revolutionary, useless, confusing), and food (spicy, sweet, expensive) in their own separate ways.

But when you think of a business, are the first things that come to your mind words like “good cash flow” or “high operating costs” or “entertainment leader for 12-18 year old girls”? Unless you’re a chief investor or are on the board of directors, probably not.

When you think of businesses or brands, you probably think of words like “honest” or “dependable” or “elitist”. And that’s because we’re constantly trying to make your brand into a person, so we can understand it and relate to it. For many people, relating to an abstract concept is tough. You don’t hear “I love Pythagorean’s Theorem” very often. We can’t do that. But when we give your business or brand some structure, and stuff it’s “traits” into a system we understand (a person) it makes that much more sense to us. Just look at Noah Brier’s Brand Tags.

The moral of the story here is that most people don’t know what your balance sheet looks like, or who is in your target market. So don’t approach them that way. You need to embrace, or at least acknowledge, the fact that people are trying to humanize your brand. If I were you, I’d help them.

Status Symbol – Rolex, Mercedes-Benz, Prada

Facilitator – Facebook, WordPress, Google

Identifier – Philadelphia Eagles, Xbox 360, Harley-Davidson

Loyal Friend – Coca Cola, Tylenol, Moleskine

Experiment – Segway, Under Armour, Smart Car

Rebellion – (formerly) Apple, Hendricks Gin, Doc Martins

However, there are a few things that every brand can do to enhance their Twitter account and make sure that they reach their goals with the program. Let’s take a look at 8 good ones.

1. Picture

First things first, logos do not tweet. People do. Your brand’s Twitter account handle will already be @BrandX, so no one has to worry about getting confused. Wait, is your name actually Nick Nike? or Samsung Jones? Check out Frank Eliason, who runs the wildly successful (and incredibly awesome) @comcastcares (Comcast) account. Right away you know you’re dealing with a person and not a PR department.

The only exception here is when the people who use the account actually are the entire PR department. In this case, the logo is okay, but try and work in some specific pictures and names in some ways mentioned below.

2. Name

See the above statement. Corporations may be a “person” in the eyes of the law, but not in the eyes of Twitter. We understand that this account may be representative of your brand as a whole, but there’s still a person running it. Social Media and Twitter specifically is all about honest HUMAN interaction. Do everything you can to keep that there. Let us know your name.

3. Sidebar

This is a pretty brilliant tactic that seems to be catching on much faster with individual users than with brands. The idea here is that you create a specific graphic to use as your background and on that graphic is other useful information. It might be the pictures and names of everyone who uses the account, or just other places you can find the brand on the web. This is a cool opportunity to say a few more things about yourself right away. Check out @flyingdog (Flying Dog Brewery) and @wldaily (Wine Library Daily Deals) to see it done right.

4. Bio

The Bio section is the Swiss Army Knife of the Twitter profile. You can use this space to say a little more about yourself like @jetblue (JetBlue Airways), give us your Twitter mission statement like @Wachovia (Wachovia Bank), give us some more contact info (see below) or just say hi. Either way, make sure you have something useful and relevant here.

5. Contact Info

So you’re on Twitter and you’re a real person (per number 1 and 2). Now give us a way to get in contact. It doesn’t have to be with the person running the account, it can be someone on your team. But you need to give us a way to get in touch when 140 characters just doesn’t cut it.

6. Link Out

Putting a link to your brands homepage is okay, but really you need to link to a “Contact Us” or a special page for Twitter users. Make this useful and make sure it’s easy to find.

7. Communicate

A lot of media/news outlets simply use Twitter as a broadcast medium. This is wrong! It’s another example of old media trying to do new media by old rules. Doesn’t work that way. Look at Frank Eliason’s @comcastcares account. Almost every single tweet is an @ reply. I’m sure he sneaks some Comcast-related news in there now and again, but the majority of his time is spent interacting. That’s how to do it right.

8. FOLLOW PEOPLE

Per number 7, Twitter is not your megaphone. You need to follow people back or you’ll look like a clown.

Additional Resources
-Follow Me On Twitter
-Twitter Brand Index
Twittermaven’s Best Practices
-Beth Harte – Who are you? And why should I follow you?

In a post that should be required reading for any digital marketer, Alan Wolk tells everyone, “Your Brand Is Not My Friend“. He maintains that unless your brand is a “Prom King” (coolest kid in school, market leader, etc.) that most people don’t want a relationship with you. So please Folgers, stop trying to friend him up on Facebook! I agree with most of Alan’s post, and even came to a slightly similar conclusion myself in an earlier post. But it goes a little deeper than that.

Regardless of how cool your brand is, and how fanatical your fans are, the bottom line is that no one cares about your brand more than you do.

Now, I hear you out there going “Hey, wait a minute! What about the notoriously rabid Apple fanboys? Or the Zune guy? How about the Makers Mark Ambassadors, or Fiskateers, etc. etc.”

I know those are only a handful of examples, but think about it. Who do you think cares more about Makers Mark? One of their loyal fans in the Ambassador program or someone who’s last name is Beam? Same deal with the Fiskateers. I know they love those scissors and all the other products they make for scrap booking, but I’m sure that the Fiskar brand is more important to their CEO or Founder. The Zune Guy? We all know how that ended. And then Apple, with its fans that hold the brand in some sort of (almost creepy) holy regard. Who do you think Apple matters more to? The guy who never leaves his house without his iPod and MacBook or Steve Jobs?

My money’s on Jobs.

And this all means that you cannot hire an agency/consultant to do your social media for you. They can teach you, they can guide you, they can help you get started, they can participate, but that’s where it ends. The ownership has to be on your end. Because no matter how smart, your account manager doesn’t have those years of experience in the kayak industry that you do. They don’t understand the competitive landscape for protein powder or sneakers like you. Social media is all about connection, and if it’s not actually you out there connecting, then what good is it? If I’m a lifelong backpacker, I want to hear from your product manager who is out there testing your new packs on trails, not your consultant who tells you the best way to get outdoorsy links.

There is no quick way to be really successful in social media. Hiring someone else to do all your other dirty work or the thing “you don’t have time for” isn’t the answer. You have to care, because if you don’t no one else will.

This is a bad thing.

A lot of times little things will happen (the kid who built furniture out of FedEx boxes, or Starbucks closing their doors for a night of training), and these little things represent a big opportunity. But the problem is that most big companies can’t react quick enough to do anything meaningful about it. The bureaucracy slows them down.

Big companies need to develop a rapid response group. A small group of marketers with different talents that have a small (but actionable) budget and the ability to execute their initiatives.

You can call it the Brand A-Team, Captain Brand-it, or The Fellowship of the Brand (if you’re a nerd), it really doesn’t matter. As long as they have the right people, a small budget, and a direct line, bat-phone style, to the CMO, that’s all they need.

What do you think? What are the problems? Would this work and would you like to be on a team like this?

That’s Apple for you. I can’t think of any other brand out there that consistently mistreats their customers, yet has a fan base that would lay down on train tracks for them.

Price gouging early adopters? Sure why not. Removable batteries? Keep dreaming. But still, I know people that almost wet their pants waiting for Steve to unveil the MacBook Air.

The big thing for me here is that, apparently, consumers will ignore or forgive a brand’s missteps if their product is exceptional. But how long can this last? Will Apple be able to plow along, doing whatever it pleases and still create new fans? Or will someone else come and deliver a great product AND great customer interaction.

What do you think?

“Your calling is calling.”

It just seems a little awkward to me, memorable but awkward. Slogans are a powerful thing, for example when I say “Nike slogan” what three words just popped into your head? How about “Pork: The ______ _______ ______”. My guess is you got that one too.

A sticky slogan is great. A sticky, awkward slogan? Not so much.

Facebook recently announced it’s new advertising model, one that lets you “connect” directly with brands. To paraphrase the process: You can now become a “fan” of a brand (or music group, restaurant, web site, etc.) via your profile. Facebook then lets your friends know, along with a socially targeted ad. For example, If I liked Mahalo (and I do), I could become a “fan” on Facebook, and if you were my friend, you’d hear about it along with a sponsored link to check out Mahalo.

Get it? Doesn’t sound too hard, but there’s a catch.

You have to be cool.

For this ad model to work, you have to be a cool brand, or be a brand with reaallllly loyal fans. Nike probably won’t have a problem, neither will Polo, Starbucks, or Mercedes-Benz. But what about Kraft Macaroni and Cheese? Or Advil, K-Mart, Sure Deodorant, and Bic Pens? Are there enough people on Facebook that are fans of these brands? And if so, will they be proud enough to advertise it?

What do you think? Will this whole thing sink or will there be enough cool brands and people wanting to show off allegiances?

Much like my home town of Philadelphia (according to Travel and Leisure Magazine), the web is an ugly place.

Don’t believe me? Spend about 15 minutes going through StumbleUpon and you’ll run in to bad design that ranges from mildly unattractive to downright offensive.

It just bothers me when it’s so easy to have a good looking, clean website, and there’s so many out there that look like they’re stuck in 1993 (re-sizable frames?!?). Do us all a favor and clean up your act. Help make the internet a better looking place.

I like this ad, and more importantly, I like where it fits in with Old Spice’s new direction. The “Experience” campaign, with the ever-cool Bruce Campbell (check him out in USA’s Burn Notice) has given new life to a lagging brand. Old spice was getting clobbered and needed something to combat AXE’s edgy, sexy appeal. Their answer? Old-school with a touch of class and sass. Check out the old and new body spray designs:

Old Spice was smart here in recognizing that you can’t win by following the leader. Their move was similar to Nintendo’s with the Wii because they decided to go in a different direction. Sometimes the answer isn’t overtaking the leader in your niche, but either taking a different angle at the same niche or finding a different one all together.