Cymfony's Influence 2.0

Blog Bits - Week of April 24th

One of Coke’s newer products is Coke BlaK, a coffee infused cola.  John Moore of Brand Autopsy comments on this product as well as leads us to an interesting post by Paul Williams (of the Idea Sandbox).   Williams shares his impressions of this drink and also offers a story on his tasting the failed Starbucks' coffee infused cola – Mazagran.  Yes, you read it right – Starbucks' FAILED coffee infused cola.   

Being intrigued by Williams’ post and the product, Moore bought a 4 pack of Coke BlaK – his overall impressions are that the coffee/cola tastes like a “low-grade, lightly roasted artificially flavored coffee.”  He also compares it to “Tab with a slight hint of bad, flavored coffee.” Ouch. 

Some comments on Moore’s post are: 

• “I doubt that I could have ever brought myself to even taste the stuff, let alone pay money for it”
• “It sounds so disgusting that I haven’t even had the urge to try it”
• “Maybe I’m the only one who like this… but not enough to spend over $1 per bottle on it.” 

Will Coke BlaK succeed?

One of the comments pretty much sums it up “I’m sure that Coke BlaK will generate initial sales in the States based upon the initial curiosity factor but I doubt repeat sales will follow because the product lacks taste appeal.” 

Another way to advertise… Coming Soon:  Ads on iTunes.  Marketing Vox reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs supports the idea of ad supported podcasts.  To ease users into the concept, the ads will be placed in the lower left hand corner of the iTunes library.  TV networks have already found a way to profit from this.  Currently, networks charge iTunes’ users $1.99 per download of an episode that is “ad-free.”  ABC plans to offer free versions of these episodes (which they normally charges a fee) if it is downloaded on an ad supported site.  NBC and AOL are also planning to do something similar. 

John Cass, of PR Communications, points to an interesting post which talks about color preferences based on age, gender, and associations.  Here are a few of the findings:

• Green is very popular with the under 18 set and decreases in popularity as we age.
• Purple gets more popular as we grow older.
• Everyone's least favorite colors: orange and brown. Then grey for women and yellow for men.

Internet’s Increasing Influence

Now that it is so easy for consumers to find and interact with sites rich with information on the specific topics they care about, they are becoming more involved with the conversations occurring on these sites and building trust in the community.  Out of this trust, consumers are getting the guidance, personal experiences and product recommendations to help them with some of life’s biggest decisions.

We know this influence is occurring, but where is it making the biggest impact?

The researchers at Pew Internet & American Life Project have some interesting findings on this question.  Back in ’02 they conducted a study to measure the internet’s influence and they ran study again this year to see how it has changed over that time.  Over this time, they found “striking increases” in the number of people who say that the internet plays a crucial or significant role in various aspects of their lives.

The topics with the biggest increases were with people seeking information and guidance on health care issues, investment and financial services, buying a car, and education/career training.  For example, 54% more people said the web played a major role in helping others with health conditions. The growth in the other categories is equally as compelling, see the stats from the report here on pewinternet.org.

To explain these “striking increases” the report stated, “the internet’s largest impact comes in connecting people to other people for advice or sharing valuable experiences.” “Online communities often function as information clearinghouses that let people compare options, find experts, or share information among people who have recently encountered similar circumstances.”

This is powerful stuff, enough to make any internet marketer smile.  But the real opportunity here is about more than just buying more search keywords or banner ads, it is about listening.  Think about it for a minute, for people to place so much importance on the internet for these huge life decisions, there is some real valuable information being exchanged here.

The great thing is that this stuff is easy for you to track. Listen to it and learn from it. Getting your product teams, client service managers, sales reps, and all your PR and advertising execs to learn from this will do a whole lot more for your business than just getting you more click throughs.

I’m new to Cymfony, but I’ve been in the online marketing business since it began.  With new technologies letting users take control of the web and connect to other people like never before, I’m more excited than I’ve ever been about what the internet can do for businesses.  Tell me what you are seeing. Where have you seen the internet’s influence increase the most?  How have you seen companies adapt to it?

Preliminary results: Blogs Boost Business

Preliminary research from our Corporate Blogs: Best Practices survey we are conducting in partnership with Porter Novelli, indicates that 78% of businesses say their blogs have met their initial goals, citing increased media coverage, improved credibility, increased website traffic, and lead generation.

The survey remains open through May 1 at http://www.rmrsurveys.com/t60275/ When we compile all the responses, we’ll send you a full report with the data and invite to you to attend a webinar to discuss the detailed findings.

We are collecting some fascinating information here on how organizations manage their corporate blogging strategy.  For example, so far 59% said they have started blogs because they felt a need to participate in the medium while 41% are looking to meet a specific need. And despite their success, 65% feel they don't get enough interaction on their blog. 

Our original post gave all the details for the survey. There is a lot we can learn from this data, so if you maintain your company blog or monitor other blogs for your company, we’d love to hear from you. If you don't have direct responsibility, feel free to pass on the link to the person in your organization who does.

Time to eliminate “media” from the plan

If the Night of the Media Heavyweights proved anything, it is that the notion of a single medium doesn’t exist anymore. The future of “media” companies is not about the content, or the form it is delivered in, but how well they can create and sustain communities.

Cable TV, magazines, newspapers, direct marketing, Internet, broadcast TV, radio, and out-of-home media debated their merits in a mock sales pitch to Bill Sidwell, Hewlett-Packard’s Director,Global Brand Strategy and Management and Kenneth Romanzi, Ocean Spray’s COO. But what struck me wasn’t that in the audience vote the Internet handily won the HP pitch and magazines led for the Ocean Spray business.

Every medium – with the exception of out-of-home – made their own multi-channel pitch, emphasizing how they can combine their traditional properties with their web sites and other interactive assets for a stronger advertising package. At times when Ellen Oppenheim of the Magazine Publishers of America spoke, her pitch sounded more like Greg Stuart’s of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. But as much as each medium pitched their cross-channel wares, both HP and Ocean Spray expressed frustration that none of them talked about how they could work with each other to enhance the overall mix.

The highlight for me was watching ABC TV Network’s President of Sales & Marketing, Mike Shaw -- in the past an ardent defender of TV’s status quo and the inevitability of network TV’s continuing superiority -- merely mentioning the network programming as he pitched HP on the Web properties associated with shows like "Lost".

But this drove home the fact that the future for these companies is not in how well they can continue to put ink on dead trees or how efficiently they can source and broadcast programs. Their future is in harnessing the connection consumers have to particular topics, or characters, or stories. Beyond building an audience, the future is about building communities who participate much more deeply and share the experience, not on TypePad or MySpace, but on the site hosted by the content creator.

Maybe this is Martha Stewart’s real revenge – all media companies must now pursue being “omnimedia” companies. Or perhaps more pointedly, it comes to Publicis Groupe Rishad Tobaccowalla’s concept of “passion groups” – finding the topics that engage consumers on a deep, emotional level, giving them multiple ways to indulge their passion, and building a community around it.

So maybe the next Night of the Heavyweights won’t have “media” companies at all – maybe Dynamic Logic and Millward Brown will tell the “media” organizations to make their pitch around different passion groups – and work with each other to put together the best corss-channel plan.

marketing advertising

Half a kudo for GM's Chevy Tahoe response

Note to GM: the next time you respond to a controversy, and you have strong facts on your side of the argument, skip the marketing blah-blah and let the facts make your case. And if you really want to be honest and transparent, go beyond just writing a good response and incorporate actions that truly address the root issues of the controversy.

In my last post, I commented on the Chevy Tahoe consumer-generated ads getting out of control. Chevrolet division general manager Ed Peper has posted his response to the issue on the GM Fastland blog here. Pete Blackshaw rightly pointed out that with a long history of Fastlane, GM has standing in the blog community to state their side of the story. But I think he overstates how effective the response is.

I give Mr. Peper credit for acknowledging the issue head on and for deciding not to censor the anti-SUV ads. And for saying GM wanted to be honest and transparent.

But I deduct points because he starts out his defense with the line "The 2007 Tahoe is capable, refined and responsible" which is straight out of their marketing schtick. This one line immediately sets the reader on notice that they are about to get hit with the usual corporate-speak defense of their products. The response would have been much more credible if he had skipped the tagline and went straight to the fact that the Tahoe gets 22 mpg -- even I have to admit that is a respectable number for a humongous vehicle like this (and remember, I'm a Prius-driving tree hugger).

And words alone won't dampen this controversy. If GM really wants to be transparent, they need to address the real issues that the anti-SUV ad creators are upset about. This kind of transparency would do more to silence their critics than even the best blog post.

What exactly should GM do to create this kind of transparency? They should follow McDonald's example and partner with an environmental group to find solutions to the issues that anger their opponents. The fast food chain faced criticism from environmental groups in the early '90's for their excessive packaging, so they partnered with the Environmental Defense Fund on a successful study that resulted in numerous initiatives to reduce the waste generated by their restaurants. GM should invite the Union of Concerned Scientists to consult with them based on the group's extensive studies around increasing vehicle mileage.

Technorati tags: citizen marketing Tahoe Chevy Tahoe

advertising

Controlling Consumer Control Goes Out of Control

Jackie Huba’s Church of the customer blog has hosted a lively debate whether the Chevy Tahoe Apprentice campaign – in which consumers select from Chevy-provided video clips to create their own commercial --  is consumer-generated media or not. Consumers have settled it once and for all: technology trumps the corporate powers who would guide, constrain, and compel the “wisdom of the crowd” to do their bidding. But maybe Chevy should consider these ads as a new kind of ad testing mechanism for the images they associate with their vehicles.

Chevrolet thought they had a way to harness the power of consumer-generated media to further the Tahoe’s marketing goals: give consumers a carefully selected inventory of video and audio clips that they can assemble into their own commercials, cherry-pick the ones that best fit Tahoe’s strategy, and voila, consumer-generated commercials. If a consumer created something the brand didn’t like, no problem, it would simply be suppressed.

Problem is, the consumers haven’t followed by the script. They have come to create commercials, but many of them depict the Tahoe as a gas-guzzling, global-warming-gas-belching, earth-destroying behemoth. These ads are now cropping up on sites such as TotalTactics, Heavy on the Chevy, and You Tube. The story has even made the New York Times advertising column.

As a professional marketer I think there is more to learn than just that technology has made consumer control absolute. These commercials are a virtual Rohrschach test – or maybe a Zaltman brand co-creation collage -- of how the typical images used in SUV commercials strike consumers. Instead of communicating freedom to explore the wilderness, they communicate the power to trample it. Instead of confidence, arrogance. Instead of protection, destruction.

Being a Prius-driving, save-the-planet kind of guy, I love this, and perhaps this may turn the tide on the popularity of SUVs (my favorite ad is “What Will You Tell Your Kids You Drove?). People buy cars to project an image about themselves to friends, neighbors, colleagues. So far, the car companies have been able to wrap their vehicles with the image of their choice; now the friends, neighbors and colleagues are setting the agenda for the associations that will attach to SUV drivers. This kind of peer pressure may accomplish what nothing short of a $1-a-gallon-gas-tax could do: destroy the market for SUVs.

If you think I am over the top, check out the commercials on YouTube – then go back to Jackie Huba’s blog and read her analysis of the growth of this site. Watch a few of the consumer-created Tahoe commercials and see if you will ever look at an SUV the same way again.

Chevy Tahoe marketing advertising consumer-generated media

Corporate Blog Survey Reminder

You still have a chance to take the Corporate Blogs: Best Practice survey that Cymfony and Porter-Novelli are conducting.  Remember - your answers will be anonymous and you will receive a summary of the results as a thank you for participating.  Click here to take the survey.