Archive for the 'social media' Category

Some Quick Thoughts on Motrin

Published
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Matt
on Nov 18, 2008
in Advertising and social media
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If you haven’t heard about all this hooplah then just google “moms and Motrin” to find out the whole story.

In any event, I just wanted to quickly weigh in with my required post on the subject.

  1. It looks like, in hindsight, that a bigger deal was made of it than necessary. The immediacy of the new channels (blogs, Twitter, etc.) allowed people to broadcast their shock! and outrage! immediately without much thought.
  2. Motrin really only pissed off a small subset of people. This whole snafu isn’t really going to hurt their bottom line, and in reality it will probably give the brand more exposure.
  3. As Alan Wolk pointed out, they didn’t really anticipate a firestorm over the ad. There were no Hitler jokes, no partial nudity, etc. I’m sure no one thought “Wow, this could kick up some dust! Let’s go with it any way!”
  4. Right or wrong, Social Media experts are going to be citing this as a case study for a while.
  5. You’re going to piss some people off sometimes. It’s just going to happen that way.

3 Groups Of People That Are Important

Published
by
Matt
on Nov 18, 2008
in Analysis and social media
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Note: This is a continuation of a post from yesterday titled “Digital Natives Are Not That Important“

The Conquistador
If Digital Natives are people that have been born into it, The Conquistadors are the ones who worked hard to show up, and make no question about it, they run this town. If you’re reading this blog and are over 20ish years old, chances are you’re a Conquistador. Not only are you way ahead of most other people your age when it comes to the internet, but you’re most likely way ahead of everyone. Conquistadors are the trend-setters, celebrities, and taste-makers of the new web.

In many ways, Conquistadors are very like Digital Natives. You’ve got to work to win them over, but if you do, they’ll shout your praises through every channel they can think of.

The Trons
Aptly named because the last good memory they have of technology was the 1982 movie Tron. They don’t want it, don’t need it, and won’t use it unless they absolutely have to.

If you’re targeting Trons, then good luck. You’ve got to have a couple things working for you in order to be successful. The first thing is you have to be really really easy to figure out. The second thing is that you have to have a user base that includes the “slightly more tech inclined friend-of-Tron” or SMTIFOD as we call it in the biz. (I’m just kidding, no one really says that.)

The One Trick Pony
The OTP is a user who knows the internet enough to use it for one or two things, and as far as they’re concerned, that’s all it’s for. Take my girlfriend’s mom for example. Her web experience/expertise doesn’t stretch very far beyond emailing, but she is an eBay wizard. Her digital world consists of the big “e’s”: e-mail and eBay.

The key with the OTP is to make your service or site as accessible as possible. You need to show the benefits right away. They’re a tough demo to snag, but provide an extremely loyal user base once you’ve got them on board.

So are Digital Natives really that unimportant right now? Are there any groups I missed? Let’s hear your thoughts.

Digital Natives Are Not That Important

Published
by
Matt
on Nov 17, 2008
in Analysis and social media
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Note: This is the first part of a two part series. See part two here.

If you’re at all active in the blogging/new media/technology/futurist/marketing/social media space, you’ve probably heard the term “Digital Native”.

In case you’re not part of that 8 word super-slash, or just missed the boat, a Digital Native is someone that doesn’t know life without computers or the internet.

People have been making a big deal about “the impact of Digital Natives” and “what Digital Natives mean to ____________”. But the truth is, right now anyway, Digital Natives aren’t that important at all.

Let’s think about it - by my estimation/definition, Digital Natives were born around or after 1989. This makes the oldest possible Digital Native about 20 years old. And odds are, if you’re running a business, the under 20 market isn’t the biggest piece of the pie you need to worry about.

The big thing about Digital Natives is that because they’ve grown up with this technology, they’re quick to adapt, adopt, and move on to the next big thing. So when you’re rolling the dice on your next big “will they do it?” web project, higher adoption rates from Digital Natives can be expected (as long as your product doesn’t suck).

But with most businesses, these people aren’t the make-or-break in the market. Look at Facebook. I was on there from the very beginning, when it was all college kids. People my age are on the very verge of what is typically defined as a Digital Native, so by definition, Facebook was full of them. But Facebook didn’t really take off until it opened it’s doors to everyone.

So we know that Digital Natives will try out your new web service. They will shape the next Twitter, the next bogs, and podcasts. But they’re not the people you have to worry about.

And who is it that you should be focusing on? Check back tomorrow to find out!

The Best Social Media Works Offline

Published
by
Matt
on Nov 3, 2008
in Life, Web 2.0 and social media
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If you stumbled over the title of this post, maybe it’s time to jack out of the matrix, Neo.

I know that most people wouldn’t put “social media” and “offline” in the same sentence, but maybe that’s because only the best of the best social media efforts make it there.

It’s funny because you hear people all the time getting all excited because O.M.G. the web is SOCIAL now! I can talk to you, and you can talk to me, and I can write reviews that get read in Istanbul, and you can friend up the entire offensive line of (undefeated!) Penn State’s football team.

This is, undeniably, a big deal. But we need to remember that there was a place that people were being social before the internet came along.

It’s called the real world. It’s where your mother is right now, and your dog, and your girlfriend (well, maybe not your girlfriend) too.

And the best social media plans understand this. They serve as enablers, facilitators, catalysts, and precursors for real life interaction. Look at the Makers Mark Ambassadors program or the Fiskateers. How about the Manic Mommies and their Escapes, events like Blogger Social, the Plaid Tour, and the booming popularity of Tweetups.

Think about (and I know he gets talked about all the time, but it’s because he’s that good) Gary Vaynerchuck. He blows peoples minds with his energy and passion about wine on WLTV and then goes out there and connects with everyone on every social network you can think of. Then he follows up on every single email he gets. But the best part is what happens offline. That guy that gets his question answered about what wine to serve with the meal he’s going to propose to his girlfriend is going to tell his friends. Maybe online, but more likely at the office, at a party, at the wedding reception. And it’s going to go something like this.

“Oh man I was so nervous, you know me. I had no idea about the meal and then I had to figure out the wine too. There’s this guy online, Gary Vay-ner-chuck, who is, like, a total wine guru, and he answered my email about which wine to get. It was awesome. You should check out his stuff, he’s at winelibrary.tv.”

Winner.

The Moment of Float

Published
by
Matt
on Oct 23, 2008
in New Marketing and social media
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From a fortune cookie I got recently:

It’s easy to make the decision to do some “new marketing”. Just take a small budget for “blogs, social media, and stuff like that” and stand back and wait for it all to go viral. What’s tough is the follow through, getting beyond that initial commitment to the point where you can make some progress. You have to get beyond The Moment of Float.

(No, I did not really get this in a fortune cookie, but thanks for believing.)

No One Cares About Your Brand More Than You

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 29, 2008
in Branding and social media
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The above statement might not seem like breaking news, but when you look at the way a lot of brands act, it might be less understood than you think.

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.

Is Xbox Live A Social Network?

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 19, 2008
in Communication and social media
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Let’s look at some of the arguments from both sides. Ready? Go!

The case for “Heck yes, it is”

-You can have profiles
Xbox Live requires you to have a unique handle, or GamerTag (mine is Situation3), to exist on their network. With this profile you can choose an avatar, and edit your name, location, and motto (which is essentially useless). Pretty soon however, Xbox Live will be getting a major overhaul in this department, adding in avatars which fall in between something from Second Life and the Wii’s Mii character. It’ll be interesting to see how Microsoft utilizes the new functionality brought about by these changes to focus on the more “social” element of XBL.

-You can have friends
Just like with other major social networks (MySpace, Facebook, etc.) you can build and maintain a list of friends on Xbox Live. The process is fairly easy, all it requires is that you type in the name of the person you’d like to friend. You can even attach a text or audio message with your friend request, which is a great feature. Once you’re on their “friends” list, you can see when they’re online and which games they’re playing, join games that they’re in, send them messages, voice chat, and even look through their list of friends for other people you might know.

-You can keep in touch with people
Actually, you don’t have to play games over XBL. Once signed on, through the dashboard you can voice or text chat with your friends or send audio or video messages (if you have the camera). Obviously XBL is a gaming platform first, but with a worldwide member base, it might be cheaper to chat with your friends in London or Dubai for a couple hours via XBL than it is to call them over the phone.

The case for “Absolutely not!”

-You have to buy specific hardware
Unlike most social networks, you need to buy a few things to have access to Xbox Live. First off, obviously you need an Xbox 360. At $199 for the basic Arcade model, it’s cheaper than most computers, but even given that, it still doesn’t come close to the functionality of a simple PC.

-You have to buy a subscription
This is a deal breaker for a lot of people. In addition to buying the Xbox 360, you have to also purchase a membership to Xbox Live. If you go for the whole year up front, which runs about $50, it comes to a little over $4 a month. While this may be less than almost everything on the menu at Starbucks, it’s still more than most other major networks (which are free).

-All you can do is talk and play video games!
When it all boils down, this is totally true. Some will say that without the ability to share files or pictures, add aps, set up groups and group pages, etc. that Xbox Live falls short of the functionality that defines a social network today.

My Decision - Yes it is.

When you look at the arguments, the biggest factors against XBL being a social network is the higher barriers to entry when compared to traditional social networks. While I think this is certainly a differentiator and a worthy argument, I don’t think it’s a enough to discount XBL completely.

What say you?

Bring the Thunder! 5 Questions With Gary Vaynerchuck

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 4, 2008
in Web 2.0 and social media
. Comments

When it comes to social media and wine, there’s no denying the force that is Gary Vaynerchuck of Wine Library TV. From his daily videocast and book to being featured on Conan O’Brien, Mad Money, Wired, Men’s Health, etc., he’s become the poster child for the possibility of social media. I don’t want to keep you waiting, so here’s my five questions with the one, the only, Gary VAY-NER-CHUCK.

1) What first turned you on to the potential of social media?

The fact that it was massively driven on interaction with human beings.



2) How did you figure out which methods were the best for reaching people?

This is something that is always changing… I saw all the buzz around Twitter, for example, when I was at FOWA in London a few years ago and identified right away how powerful it could be–the ability to reach an audience instantly and repeatedly without being spammy. But Twitter has struggled a bit with its rapid growth and tomorrow some other competitor could emerge that makes Twitter obsolete. By using the social media tools that are currently available you’ll develop the knowledge and ability to identify and properly utilize the next ones that come down the pike.



3) Is it ever hard to keep up the pace that you’ve become so famous for?

My natural tendency is to embrace chaos, and chaos is what it has been. Fortunately for me my work is my play, and that makes it easy to maintain this frenetic pace.



4) What new things are you really looking forward to?

Well my brother AJ and I with some help just launched pleasedress.me, which is getting a lot of attention. It’s a search engine for t-shirts and it’s going to distract me from wine-related business a little but I’m excited about it.



5) What’s the one thing that everyone does wrong in social media?

Lack of patience.



And there you have it. Simple, insightful, and still totally exciting. A big “thank you” to Gary Vaynerchuck and everyone at Wine Library TV.