Social Networking

Question: Has your sales and marketing tactics changed radically over the past five years?  Not to over hype it, but the second half of this decade has brought changes in media consumption that rivals the introduction of the printing press and television.  You need to keep your customer’s behavior in mind when deciding which marketing and sales tactics to use in light of the dramatic changes.

Five years ago no one had yet heard of YouTube, Hulu, Face book or Twitter.  Reality TV now dominates the ratings as Andy Warhol’s prediction of instant fame actually came true.  Public Wi Fi is everywhere and Google is now a verb.  The new generation of smart phones would amaze James Bond.  DVRs  and IPODs have completely changed the concept of consuming and buying entertainment.  When it comes to content, the influence of bloggers in politics, sports and entertainment often drive the media narrative with the mainstream media chasing. 

Major newspapers like the Boston Globe are a dying business model.  Network TV viewership is at an all time low and the level of creativity is even lower – how many crime shows do we need?  Magazine are shrinking and trying to reinvent themselves like Newsweek, Playboy and Reader’s Digest.  The B2B trade press is migrating from print to online content, web casts and virtual trade shows.

Thanks to advances in technology, the balance of power has shifted from media to consumer and that changes everything for marketers.  Have you adjusted your marketing plans to take advantage of these changes or are you maintaining the status quo?

Here are ten burning questions you need to ask yourself now:

1. Are you conducting or finding research to understand how your customers are consuming media? 

2. Does this research tell you the information needs of your customers and prospects?

3. Are you still renting expensive ad space in print and TV with the majority your budget? 

4. Are your producing original content and owning your own media channel to create an interactive dialog with your customers?

5. Is your company using original content to become a trusted media brand?

6. Are you creating passion and communities among your customers?

7. Do you make an effort to balance your retention and acquisition efforts, or are you over investing in lead generation?

8. Do you have a defined social media strategy to engage with customers and prospects where they are spending more and more time?

9. Are you personally engaged with Linked In, Face Book and Twitter to find prospects and talk to your customers?

10. Do you have measurement metrics in place for all of your marketing and sales tactics?

Think about your honest answers to these questions and take stock of where you are with both your company and career.  It is easy for mid career professionals to write these changes off as a passing fad or “for kids”.  That is probably what they there thinking at the Boston Globe and Newsweek just a few years ago.  We are in the midst of big time changes across the spectrum of politics, economics and media consumption.  The companies that adopt swiftly will thrive over the next decade. 

In 2000, Al Gore received a half million more votes than George W. Bush for President, but it was not to be.  Talk about Karma - fast forward to today and W. is in his living room with the lowest approval rating in modern times and is still a punching bag for the media and comedians.  Meanwhile, Al Gore has added a Nobel Peace Prize, Oscar, Grammy and Emmy to his environmentally correct trophy case.  In case you didn’t know, Gore is also one of the founders of Current TV.  Description below:

Since its inception in 2005, Current TV has been the world’s leading peer-to-peer news and information network. Current is the only 24/7 cable and satellite television network and Internet site produced and programmed in collaboration with its audience. Current connects young adults with what is going on in their world, from their perspective, in their own voices.

Current pioneered the television industry’s leading model of interactive viewer created content (VC2). Comprising roughly one-third of Current’s on-air broadcast, this content is submitted via short-form, non-fiction video “pods”. Viewer Created Ad Messages (VCAMs) are also open to viewer’s participation.
 

Current TV is a creature of the new media landscape and takes advantage of the fact many people want to create content, connect with peers and be famous. The technology to live this dream is now in the hands of the masses.  You can see this theme throughout media and popular culture.  Who received more “buzz” this year?  Was it Adam Lambert, Susan Boyle and the Housewives of NY/NJ or the scripted dramas on network television?  Clearly it was the reality stars because they feed into the concept of democratized content and aspirations of fame and fortune.

This trend has implications for marketers and advertisers trying to reach an ever more fragmented audience.  The 30 second spot and print ads are dying art forms.  One of the cool things about Current TV is they allow viewers to create ads for major brands such as HP and T-Mobile based on some creative assets and a brief.  Their research shows that viewers prefer user generated ads by a ratio of 9 to 1.  This trend does not bode well for traditional ad agencies, and doesn’t big Al know it.  Read a few quotes from a keynote he recently gave at marketing event as reported by Adweek:

He described the end of the industrial-revolution-like era of advertising, which produced ads that are “big, blunt expensive and very intrusive. . Audiences have begun to resist that old model.”   Going forward, advertising needs to become more nuanced, authentic and peer-to-peer, said Gore. “People want a different kind of feeling toward brands to which they give their money.”
 
That means being more upfront about ad messaging, rather than attempting to squeeze marketing messages into content through branded entertainment, he said. According to Gore, one of the reasons that Current viewers like VCAM ads is that they are straightforward in their intent. “People are interested in what someone like them is going to do and they’re not going to have something slipped by them,” Gore said. With ads that have been disguised as entertainment, “there is some resistance to those models. . . . We believe that intelligent empowerment of the audience is the key.”

Al Gore will likely never be President but he is now at the forefront of private custom media channels and content marketing.  In the parlance of marketing speak, Al Gore “gets it”.  Do you? 

The job of a marketer has probably never been more complicated with all the choices and options we have to communicate our messages for lead generation and customer retention.  The advent of new web tools and social media has made keeping up a full time job.  Our friend Joe Pulizzi at Junta42 has done a great job of compiling all the tools you need to know about in the areas of custom media, social networking, interactive conversations, Facebook and Twitter tools, content sharing, blogging, back end operation and of course, measurement.

Take a look at the list and let us know if you have any gems to add.   Personally, I have found the ability to share information with peers one of the best benefits of social media. Later this week I’ll let you know who I follow via Twitter to keep up with the daily changes in our world.  Happy reading.

Two sets of numbers recently came across my screen that illustrates the wrenching changes in media and marketing.  MIN Online has released 2009 first half numbers for monthly magazines and it is ugly.  Yes, we are in a tough recession, but these steep drops are more about the decline and fall of print advertising supported media.  Here is a snippet of the carnage as reported by MediaPost News:

The losses were widespread, with only eight out of the 118 titles tracked by MIN showing an increase in ad pages.  Among women’s lifestyle titles, Allure, Lucky, Vogue and W are all down over 30%. Auto and enthusiast titles (mostly targeting men) are sharply down, with drops of over 30% at Power & Motoryacht, Boating, Automobile, Motor Trend and Road & Track, Details, Maxim and GQ are also down over 30%, as are music monthlies Spin and Vibe and food titles Gourmet and Bon Appetit.

The brands mentioned above were formally profit generating powerhouses in lucrative categories.  The bulk of these pages are not coming back after the recession nor are closed newspapers going to spring back to life.  The ad market is undergoing a structural change.  Print is caught is a vise – readers have moved on to online media (more about that soon) and marketers are looking for measurable results that drive sales.  It is hard to make that case with a $50,000 branding ad in a monthly glossy magazine.

At the same time social media is on fire.  Facebook is now getting 300 million unique visitors per month, a 160% increase from a year ago.  This April, Twitter received 32 million world wide uniques, up 70% in a month!  MySpace has been flat at 123 million uniques per month while Facebook and Twitter grow unabated.  MySpace is going to end up the Netscape Navigator of its time. 

Since there are still only 24 hours in a day, something must be suffering with people spending all that time with social media.  Spring 2009 MRI readership shows a significant decline in magazine readership in the past year.

This has huge implications for marketers as they decide on their strategies for coming out of this economic downturn.  Reaching customers and prospects the old fashion way, is well, old fashion.  More than ever, it is imperative for marketers to turn to content market, storytelling and private media channels for measurable results.  And, now is the time to harness the power of social media.   Tweet now or forever hold your peace.

In my post a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about entering the Jim Beam Remake contest, where users submitted their original parodies and remakes of the new Jim Beam commercials.  

A few days ago, as I arrived home in the evening, I noticed a large envelope poking out of my mailbox. It didn’t have a return address. My boyfriend and I were so curious as to its contents, we ripped it open before we even got inside.

Inside were a Jim Beam t-shirt and a letter from the director of whiskeys, thanking the participants for sending in their videos. I was sincerely impressed by how classy and sincere the letter was. It seemed this person and her team had truly enjoyed watching the hundreds of video entries. She even stated she would do it all again, and hopes we would too.

In my post a year ago about Anton’s Cleaners , I talked about how customer retention works when companies let their customers know they care. It doesn’t need to be big, it doesn’t need to be expensive, but it needs to be personal.

To be honest, I’ve never had an ounce of whiskey or bourbon. But after having such intense brand interaction with Jim Beam, there is no way the Jim Beam brand won’t be at the forefront of my mind the next time I go into a liquor store to stock up for a party or to buy a bottle of liquor for a friend. And the next-best thing to going to bed with a bottle of liquor cradled in your arms is going to bed with a nightgown-sized 2XL t-shirt from Jim Beam. 

Twitter is turning into a full fledged cultural phenomenon.  Former underwear model and cougar lover Ashton Kutcher is now over 1 million followers and Oprah and Howard Stern have joined the fray.  The New England Patriots tweeted their NFL draft picks this past weekend.  There are no shortage of so called social media experts and consultants publishing lists and posts on how to use Twitter, how to make money with Twitter, Twitter etiquette, etc.  The hype is reaching a fever pitch and a lot of it seems to be marketing people talking to each other.

Here is the fundamental thing we all need to keep in mind about Twitter – it is a media channel to talk to people directly without the filter or expense of a media brand or company.  That’s it folks, nothing more, nothing less.  That being said, we are big fans of owning your own media channel, so Twitter can and should become another aspect of your private media strategy for customers and prospects.

Twitter is a great vehicle for pushing out content to a specialized list of people, and I will distribute this blog to my “followers”.  Please go here if you want to follow me.  Whether you are a B2C or B2B company Twitter is an effective way to engage in an interactive dialog with your customers.  I follow lot of journalists and research companies to keep tabs on them without having to go to their sites directly.   It is smart for your executives to have a presence and be able to get feedback from customers and create a relationship with them.  Stronger personal bonds mean stronger sales for your company. Twitter is a no brainer when thinking about customer retention.  Smart and judicious use of this media channel can be a low cost way to drive sales from existing customers and give your content a broader audience.  For a great example, check out what Dell Outlet is doing to engage customers.

On the flip side, given the 140 character limit, it is much harder to mix business and personal as you can with Facebook.  Many keep Twitter mostly business, and that seems to be the general milieu.   Some people link their Facebook status update and Tweets so they are in sync.  I don’t like this because you should customize your message to your audience and environment, but it seems to be a growing trend.  Additionally, you can wear people out with over posting and will no doubt lose followers.

Twitter has reached the critical mass where it can’t be ignored by marketers, so embrace it as a free private media channel while it lasts.  Give it a shot, talking to your customers is always a good thing, especially when they can talk or tweet back.  Or better yet, buy something.

The big media news here in New England is the fate of the Boston Globe.  The situation now looks even more urgent in light of the dreadful earnings report and cash burn situation the NY Times Company reported this week.  The Times bought the Globe for $1.1 billion back in 1993 before the dawn the web.  They had a couple of very profitable years until the bottom fell out of the newspaper business.  In retrospect, newspapers did what many trade publishers did for a long time – resist the web because selling print ads was so damn profitable.  And, they gave their content away free online to build traffic.  This combination worked out poorly.  Newspapers across the country are closing or in financial peril. 

In 2008, the Globe lost roughly $50 million on an estimated $450 million in revenue (down a few hundred million in the past three years).  That is not easy to do unless your costs are way out of whack, especially labor costs.  The NYT is asking the unions for concessions or they will close down the paper, and I would assume and keep the very successful Boston.com. There has been a lot of finger pointing and looking to place blame. Hundred of comments have appeared in online forums raving about how the Globe’s liberal editorial slant has hurt them with subscribers and advertisers.  I am sure it has cost them some, but does not nearly account for their revenue and profit freefall.

The truth is actually pretty simple, but the solution is not.  In the not so distant past the Boston Globe was a money machine because it had a stranglehold on classified advertising in New England – help wanted, real estate, cars –huge money makers raking in over $100 million annually with high margins.   This cash flow allowed the cost structure to get fat and happy during the good times.  Most of that revenue is now gone to cars.com, monster.com, realtor.com and craigslist to name a few.  Although Boston.com generates high traffic numbers, the CPMs for online ads are a fraction of what they were in print thanks to all the competition and low barrier to entry.  Factor in declining subscription and single copy revenue due to changing consumer behavior and the fact they are giving away all the content for free online. 

To survive the Globe and other newspapers are going to have to start charging for online content – there is just no way around it anymore.  Something has to give, or they will go out of business. Our communities and democracy will suffer without a functioning free press.  Bloggers, pontificating from their cube or basement, are no substitute for real reporters who are digging for stories and holding government and business to task.  It has been conventional wisdom that people won’t pay for content online, but they have never been confronted with a situation where if they don’t pay for it they will have no other option, at least locally. 

If push comes to shove will people refuse to pay $10-$20 per month for an online local newspaper and let it fold?  Or will they realize there is no real difference between paying for a pile a paper and ink dropped at your door and online content.  Many consumers have an emotional attachment to newsprint, but the web version of a newspaper is far superior with up-to-the minute news, video, talk back forums, interactive charts and archives.  Additionally, younger people are just not subscribing to print versions of newspapers, nor will they anytime soon. One issue not easily resolved is access for people without internet access. Perhaps a newsstand only version can be provided that is subsidized by ads. 

The bottom line is the newspaper business needs to start monetizing online content and quickly.  Consumers would rather read online because there is more functionality and marketers are running less and less print ads because they are not measurable.  The writing is on the wall, but is anyone reading?  In this case, living in the past is a fast road to extinction.

I was on vacation in Arizona when my friend Sara, a comedy writer and fellow comedian, sent me an email.

“DO THIS WITH ME,” it read, with a link to the Jim Beam website.

Jim Beam’s recent advertising campaign, shown ad nauseum on TBS during Celtics games, flashed through my head. They wanted users to create and submit their own videos, either inspired by or a parody of, the commercials. Sara was going to write a script in which I would get to parody the gorgeous girl who says she likes her man “a little bit hairy.”
I slammed back the remainder of my ice tea and replied, “Hell yes!” 

For comedians and humor appreciators of all persuasions, sites like Funnyordie.com and CollegeHumor.com are becoming an increasingly popular place to watch video creativity in action. It’s like an oasis of laughter in a web crowded with depressing political commentary sites and stay-at-home mom blogs. Besides being a great way to get exposure, it’s also a way to connect people across the country. And lately, corporate America has been starting to use user generated media to their advantage, too.

From Ragu’s “Great American Family” contest to the Brooks running shoe contest, companies are saying to their customers, “Hey! We value you! Come be a part of this with us! It’s fun!” On our commercial parody production team, we studied the original commercials, talked about effective ways to represent the Jim Beam brand, and forced our friends and families to watch the submissions as they rolled in. What better way for a company to build community, engender brand loyalty and market virally, all at one time? Customer retention happens when you make your customers feel like a part of your brand. And if you listen close enough, what your customers are saying can probably help you move in the right direction in the future.

It’s working for Jim Beam. They had hundreds upon hundreds of video submissions, ranging from brilliant to disturbed. (To the man whose cat inexplicably ate his wig during the video—I just want you to know your lingerie was really classy.) One guy even built a Facebook Fan page to advertise that he had entered the contest. Talk about word-of-mouth and social media in action! 

And as for our submission…well, we didn’t make it to the finals. Maybe it was because my character barfed into her purse. Maybe it was the mature lady mud wrestling. We’ll never know. But I do know that next time I throw a party, I’m buying some Jim Beam.

I recently participated in an interesting project as one of 100 marketing authors to contribute to a book called Project 100: Marketing in the Social Media Era.  This is a topic that is relevant to anyone in the marketing profession today.  Social media is about two way conversations, interaction, story telling and authenticity.  It is having your own private media channel to talk to your customers and prospects without the filter of traditional media. 

The project was the idea of Jeff Caswell who recruited the authors and produced the books.  One of the best aspects of this project is that all profits will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, global leader of the breast cancer movement, with a goal of raising at least $5,000. 

Please check out the site and consider purchasing a book for only $19.95 to get 100 unique opinions on social media marketing and make a donation to an important cause at the same time.

GM and Chrysler have presented business plans to the government in return for more bailout cash.  I don’t know if a new ad/marketing strategy is in the mix, but here is a take on what they are doing wrong and how to fix it.  Click here to read part I.

1. The auto makers over use rented media channels with interruption style advertising, and the basic auto ad has not changed in 50 years. The ads show the car being used by one of their stock cliché characters – the executive, the harried mom, the twenty something on the go, the tough guy truck owner, the hapless suburban dad, etc.  The ads are slices of life showing our heroes using the product.  This is ineffective because there is much waste; and the creative is boring and unmemorable. The auto companies are big at buying sponsorships that just slaps their name on anything and everything.  Chevrolet spends big bucks to sponsor the “player of the game” during televised college footballs games.  Why do they do this?  Awareness?  How many men watching football have not heard of Chevy?  I am sure it makes the Chevy execs happy, but has it ever sold a single car or truck?  In fact, has anyone ever bought a car based on a TV ad?

2. American car companies sell with price, price and price.  The ads always stress the price cut or financing incentive.  If you train consumers to wait for the deal you will never get full price.  That is a problem when your union contracts give you a $2000/per car disadvantage against the Japanese automakers.  They need to stop the addiction to price selling and sell value.  They are two different marketing messages.

3. All the auto companies are out of balance when it comes to customer acquisition and retention marketing efforts.  The majority of the marketing budgets are aimed at convincing new customers to buy their cars while they give lip service to customer retention.  Some of the manufacturers have custom magazines for their owners but they seem half-hearted.  I used to get a magazine from Acura and it was full of underwhelming content.  This year I leased a Mercedes and bought a Honda Accord and the follow up communication from both brands and been almost non-existent.  I have received a few weak emails that are selling me accessories and their overpriced service.

It would be more efficient to create long term customers rather than trying to sell new customers over and over.  This is an area where I would suggest the biggest changes for the auto companies.  They should peel off some the budget they are shoveling at TV to create private media channels to talk directly to their current customers to create a long term relationship.  This private media channel needs to have high quality original content from subject matter experts and great writers.  They need to create a real relationship based on affinity and trust with their customers, not just send them a magazine with travel articles and offers to buy floor mats, mugs and logoed junk.  In addition, try working in some new media – interactive webcasts for owners to get more from their car, and social media to connect owners and build community.

4. I would suggest more live test drive events where people can get inside a car and try it out.  It is a better experience without a sales guy breathing down your neck asking “how much do you want to pay per month”.   I went to a Mercedes test drive event about six years ago and decided on that day I would someday own a fine German auto.  In the time since that event Mercedes has probably hit me with a few millions dollars worth of rented media ads via magazines, newspapers, television, radio and billboards.  All those ads combined didn’t have a fraction of impact of the afternoon I spent getting to touch and feel the product and have a direct educational dialog the company.  On that day they built a level of trust and affinity with me that no traditional ad could ever duplicate. 

The bottom line:  They need to stop renting media and own their own media channel.

GM is back in the news asking for more loans and giving the government its plan.  President Obama doesn’t seem like he has much sympathy for their history of bumbling and mismanagement.  Neither does the public, Gallup just released new data that says 72% of Americans are against giving GM and Chrysler additional bailout money.  The sentiment is broad based across all demo groups. If the economy was good, I could see Obama saying no to more taxpayer money.  However, given the delicate state of the economy, the President is giving them a shot at redemption.  You could fill a book shelf with the collective mistakes of both management and the UAW, but I’ll focus on marketing and illustrate how the US auto companies, particularly GM is stuck deep the world of old media.

One of the most memorable experiences of my career was an attempt to sell auto advertising into PC Magazine in the late 90’s.  I was PC Magazine’s marketing director, and King Fish President Cam Brown was then the Associate Publisher.  We made it our personal mission to break the category so off to Detroit we went.  PC Mag had great demos of high income male gadget/tech geeks who loved the magazine and spent two hours reading each issue.  This was the perfect audience for Detroit and back then we had nearly 7 million readers and a circ of 1.2 million.  However, we were lucky to get 15 minute meetings with young and clueless media planners who only cared about two things. The pubs ranking in syndicated research and how much merchandising they could squeeze out of your book.  And, they made it clear that it was very hard to get on a plan if you were not already getting space. 

It is hard to do justice to what a bizarre world it was, not to mention that the depressing city revolved around keeping things exactly the same.  The media planners couldn’t get over the “environment” of PC Magazine.  They were running ads in every special interest pub measured in the JD Power study but they could not wrap their heads around the idea of their unimaginative ads appearing next to a technology review.  We could almost never get by that hurdle.  We did sell a few programs (Jeep, Ford) but more often than not, no one was interested in even exploring a new idea.

When driving around the Troy/Detroit metro area you could sense that one day the jig would be up and the whole system would come crashing down.  They were spending hand over fist for print and TV advertising to promote uninspired cars that people didn’t want to buy.  While at the same time they were overpaying everyone involved and locking themselves into insane union contracts that make GM more of a healthcare provider than car manufacturer.

Take a look at the latest research I could find on eMarketer from this summer.  We are in the new media age and GM has barely changed their spending mix.  Interactive spending is up, but still a fraction of TV. The vast majority goes to the rented media channels of broadcast and print.  It is common knowledge that most people start their auto shopping online, yet the overwhelming majority of their spending is on television.  The government is going to ask them to change some of their business practices in return for bailout money.  Maybe Mr. Obama will come across this blog on his BlackBerry so in part II I’ll have the audacity to tell GM what they are doing wrong and to fix it.

I am stating the obvious, but 2009 will be a rough year for the Face to Face events business – from trade shows to custom events to conferences.  I have been hearing about cut backs and cancelations from colleagues for months, and then saw this cover story in the New York Times on Vegas.  Business is way down in Las Vegas, arguably the convention and conference capital of the US.  Over 30,000 hotel rooms canceled last month as many shows have postponed or decided to cancel.  At last month’s Super Bowl the famous Playboy party was canceled.  They said a lavish party seemed inappropriate given the economy but I would wager that the only thing that was inappropriate was the lack of sponsor dollars to fund it.

The costs associated with live events makes them easy to cancel during a recession and that is really too bad.  Live events are one of the best lead generation tools available and they do an equally great job with customer retention.  The powers of events are enhanced when they are paired with original and compelling content created for the target audience.  However, event’s benefits come with a high cost per lead due to the fixed costs of running a first class event.   While there is no substitute for personal contact with a prospect or customer, there is another way.

Webcasting has been around for over ten years and is an established lead gen tool being used widely in the B2B world.  The Virtual Show or Virtual Trade Show is really picking up steam this year.  They have been around for a while now, but seem to be reaching a critical mass especially in the technology and life sciences markets.  If you are not familiar with them here is a definition from Wikipedia:

The structure of a typical virtual tradeshow often includes a virtual exhibit hall which users enter with specific permissions and capabilities, to either attend and view virtual trade show displays in the exhibit hall or build virtual booths to exhibit information related to products or services on offer, just as they would at a trade fair in a convention center. The virtual tradeshow may have other components such as a virtual web conference, or a web seminar or a webinar, or other educational presentations. The virtual show thus results in live interaction between all the users on many levels (one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many) and simultaneously. Detailed tracking mechanisms allow organizers to determine the flow of traffic in the virtual tradeshow.

Because this is online you get incredible data on the visitors and the actions they take during the show.  This allows you to segment and score your leads before you feed them into your lead nurturing programs.  And, your sales people can interact with prospects online during the show.  ON24 (King Fish is an authorized reseller) is one of several companies that provide a virtual show platform and they did some interesting research on the growth of virtual shows.  They surveyed 10,000 enterprise executive who reported that 53% of their companies have begun using virtual events and 23% plan to start using them this year.  The majority of these companies are also reporting that they will be decreasing their use of trade shows and physical sales meetings and training events.

If your company is struggling with your live events strategy it is worth exploring a virtual event.  Be aware, it is a large undertaking with project management, selection of a platform, content creation and audience development all playing a big role in your plans.  However, the rewards will be worth it when you start filling your sales pipeline with warm leads at a lower cost per lead (CPL) than a live event.

One of the consequences of the new media landscape is the marketing discipline of online reputation management.  This has always been an issue, but with the popularity of social media it has reached critical mass.  I recently came across a story that illustrates how ordinary people can harness the power of web 2.0 tools and make life very difficult for a company or individual.  Last month while flipping channels my wife came across a show we have never watched – Wife Swap.  The premise is wives from diverse backgrounds are switched for the purpose of mining entertainment from differences in attitudes towards housework, child rearing etc.  They’re generally from opposing social and political strata to create conflict and comedy, and this one was off the charts. 

One family was from Missouri and Middle America.  Their dream is seeing their oldest boy win a paintball scholarship, though I can’t believe it actually exists.  The “snobby” family was a pair of insufferable cultural elites from San Francisco who reveled in being environmentally correct and having a “World View” whatever that means.  The husband, Stephen Fowler, is possibly the vilest person ever to grace American TV.  He is a Brit who lives in the US of A to help us see the errors of our way.  Stephen (wearing a shirt that says “Sustainability”) was mean and cruel to the wife from the Midwest to a level that was almost unwatchable.  For more background check out this news video from San Francisco’s ABC affiliate. 

I watched to the end because I wanted to see this loathsome man get his comeuppance, and I sorely disappointed. It just ended with him and his wife (who said she was not proud to be American) being their usual smug and condescending selves.  I forgot all about the Fowlers until I read about the furor that this story caused in the Bay area and across the country.  Outraged people took to the web/social media networks and started making life difficult for the Fowlers.  This web site (stephenfowlersucks.com) became the hub and you can read about how their business and personal lives took a hit.  Stephen tried to apologize but it was too late, even though he was “deeply” sorry.  He had to resign from boards and his wife’s business, which they were promoting, was damaged.  It’s a reminder that things live forever on the web and once something goes viral, it is out of anyone’s control.  The internet is still the Wild West when it comes to digital rights and reputation management. 

All you need to do is flip through the comments section of any news, political or entertainment site to see public people being bashed by anonymous posters.  It is a real issue for companies who are seeing complaints about them rise in Google searches.  When people are angry today they take to the web and create a permanent record of their grievance than can be found by any customer or prospect.  I have had my challenges with Comcast cable so I typed “I hate Comcast” into Google and found almost 11 thousand exact matches.  And came across the charming site named comcastsucks.org.  That can’t put a smile on the face on their CMO. 

Monitoring your online reputation is something all marketers need to take seriously and it should be part of someone’s job responsibility.  That person needs to keep checking search engines, blogs, Facebook, twitter etc.  If possible you should reach out to the aggrieved person and try to resolve the conflict or at least try and show that there are people behind your logo.  Angry consumers often strike out against companies because they feel powerless and that no one cares about them.  It seems simple, but show you are listening and start an interactive dialog with your own blog or Facebook/Twitter account.  If there is something nasty being said about your company on the web, you want to know about it before your CEO’s son or daughter tells him about it. 

The current growth rate of Facebook continues apace, passing 100 million world wide users.  The growth is being fueled by both non-US users and the stampede of people between the ages of 25-55 who are jumping into the mix in huge and fast growing numbers.  Much of it is driven by professional needs, but the social needs are just as strong.  As the job market softens, it becomes imperative to network and keep in touch with past colleagues.  Also, to promote yourself and let people in your industry know what you have been up to for the past few years.  Having a Facebook account is a “must have” for those of us toiling in the media and marketing business.

We are firmly in a new world where our personal and business lives are combined, intersected and merged.  Even our young President has a Blackberry, and I heard him refer to the White House as a home office in jest.  Think of the Seinfeld episode where George does not want his girlfriend and friends to spend time together, because World’s Collide.  I feel like that on Facebook when “bawdy” Gordon exchanges ribald jokes with High School and gym friends in the same place where I dialog with clients, vendors and co-workers.  I try to be mindful of it, but others let it fly.  If you are going to wade into Facebook you have be tolerant of the torrent of trivial status updates (Fran is baking cookies, Leon is heading to Home Depot, Calvin needs coffee before writing a report) and ones that are there to self promote and sell. 

I have learned that given the ideological bent of the media world, it is best to leave politics off line, lest you want to receive a diatribe on the evils of George Bush or climate change (what global warming is called in the winter).  Like any platform or forum there will be those who abuse it and become serial “frienders”, just looking to pad their total in some odd ego affirming exercise.  Another form of abuse are over-posters who constantly regale their friends with political views, favorite articles and songs and generally clog up the works by assuming that there are hundreds of people who care about their every thought.  Take my advice – de-friend them.  I have done it a couple of times, it is cleansing

Now that everyone is here the question is – how best to use this powerful tool.  At this point no one has any firm answers but I do think it is valuable venue for marketing.  We’ll explore your company on Facebook in the next posting, but it is certainly worthwhile for individuals.  Facebook creates your own private media channel to the world.  You can chose to communicate one on one, to a specialized group or in mass.  It is a method to get the word out about events in your personal or professional life.   It also allows you to grow closer to people you don’t see or speak with on a regular basis.  I have found the ability to post links an effective way to get out the message about some interesting things we are doing as a company.  Facebook also gives us a targeted distribution channel for our blog and other content we create.  One of the main tenants of private custom media channels is the ability to speak to your permission based target audience with content in an environment where they will be receptive.  Facebook enables you to have an interactive dialog with your audience.  Social media has great promise as a marketing tool and right now we are all pioneers.

Over the past few weeks I have had the pleasure of appearing on a few radio shows to talk about the new media landscape.  It is important to look at these changes from the point of view of media consumers and how it affects marketers.  A common theme is how technology has empowered consumers to be in control of their media choices in terms of timing, format and platform.  This dynamic has changed the business model for traditional media companies especially in print and broadcast.  An equally important theme is the drive for measurability and accountability from marketers.  In a down economy, marketers are even more obsessed with return on investment and making every cent count.  These are themes we will be exploring in depth in 2009.

Please click the links to listen to the clips

December 22 – Indianapolis morning show with Pete the Planner, a well known financial planner from Green Candy.

January 16 – Houston National Public Radio

January 27 – KFUO morning show in St. Louis

January 30  - The Small Business Advocate with Jim Blasingame, small business expert

Cam Brown, President
King Fish Media

2009 will feature the greatest redirect in marketing approach that the media industry has seen since the explosive growth of cable television (and its subsequent usage opportunities that caused planning confusion in the 1980s and early 90s) . Looking forward, savvy marketers will broker deals with media companies not for reduced page rates or air time, but for their subscriber list – the more selects available, the better. Media companies will re-structure their sales teams, reducing the workforce of 30 and 40-something reps and elevating the most insightful marketers.

This new staff will gain immediate credibility with advertising partners who will not view them as yet another new face pitching the same old story, but as a strategic marketer identifying the most targeted database possible from their circ files, and guiding the best practices for usage of that file. The story of targeted efficiency over reach, and reduced top line advertising revenue in exchange for a smarter, more collaborative client relationship, is the story of 2009 and beyond.

Gordon Plutsky, Director of Marketing
King Fish Media

Custom Media, across all platforms, will be one of the few areas that will grow in revenue in 2009 thanks to two important trends:

    -  Companies becoming publishers and producing their own content to talk directly to customers and prospects.

   -   The need for more measurable media and high ROI during a recession.

The continued growth of web casting, virtual trade shows and online video will take a significant chunk of revenue from trade shows and live events during 2009.

The decline of the US auto industry will result in huge cut backs in print advertising from the big three, and several magazines will close as a result.  Local TV stations and newspapers will see big decreases in ad revenue as car dealerships close after GM kills Buick, Pontiac and Saturn and Ford also pares brands as part of a government bailout.

Several IT publications will follow the lead of PC Magazine and abandon their print issue to reposition themselves as online and events brands.  They will thrive once all the print overhead is removed.

Facebook will explode and become a “must have” for professionals in 34-54 age group who will continue to blur the lines between personal and business life.

The big television networks will continue to become less relevant in the lives of Americans as they spend more time on niche cable networks and social media sites.  The 2009 fall season will produce zero new hits.  The continued penetration of DVR’s will further erode their advertising base and they will have to make major cutbacks.

A major US daily newspaper will fold its print edition and go digital only.

Sarah Palin will write a book about her experiences during the 2008 campaign.  She will get a giant advance and it will go to #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list much to the dismay of New York Times.

American Idol will see a strong decline in ratings - over commercialization and bland contestants killed the golden goose.

Kathleen Martin
RocketComm

The markets will continue to ride the roller coaster through the third quarter. Big business will continue to contract but there will be explosive growth in small service firms and mid size companies. Contracting will be the norm versus traditional company employment.

Social media will continue to grow and the challenge in 2009 will be how to manage the scale and depth of your social networks and leverage the various media options for maximum return. As customers accept the flashing boxes on the sidebar and scrolling headers the media agencies will be looking for new ways to gain not only mind share but retention in a non-retentive environment.

I also think Elvis and Marilyn Monroe have a pretty good chance of being invited to the inauguration and we will see another Kennedy in the senate.

Joe Pulizzi
Junta42

More and more media companies will shed unprofitable titles in certain verticals to stay profitable and solvent. This will open up opportunities for corporate brands to become the content providers for those industries.  I wouldn’t be surprised if you started seeing corporate brands with some cash in the bank buy out small, niche media properties as they work to build out their content strategies.

Traditional media spend will continue to drop as corporate marketers will lean on web statistics for ROI. Marketers will take half of what they are pulling out of traditional and spend on content-driven activities, social media, and other more “experimental” media. Some “forward-looking” brands will see an opportunity to go back to targeted print activities, such as custom magazines and customer newsletters, to differentiate themselves from the barrage of email marketers. 

 What are your predictions?  Send them to gplutsky@kingfishmedia.com and we will post them or leave a comment. 
 

I just came across some data that shows for the first time in seven years, B2B trade show revenues declined, by 3.7% in the first three quarters of 2008 (source: ABM).  Of course, most people point to the recession as the reason – cut backs in both marketing expenditures and travel restrictions.  Surely, these are a factor, but not really telling the whole story.  It is more than coincidence that webcasting and virtual trade shows are a hot commodity and growing.  According to Frost and Sullivan the webcasting industry was worth $83.3 million in 2007 and is set to grow more than 28.2%. By 2014, they predict it to be a $3.4 billion market.

It is easy to see how cutbacks in travel can help webcasting, but that is just a small part of why it is growing.  Webcasting is one of the best lead generation mechanisms, if not the best, available today in the B2B world.  When someone attends your webcast they are raising their hand and self selecting themselves to view your content and message.  They are committing nearly an hour of their time to your message – the ultimate in content based permission marketing.  Additionally, you get incredible reporting data to know specifically who the prospects are and what actions they took during the webcast which often lets you know where they are within the buying process.  And, if you choose a live Q&A session, you can interact with dozens of potential customers in a personal dialog.  All of this comes at a pretty modest cost compared to traditional in person tradeshows. 

As someone who has once had the pleasure of managing their company’s trade show presence, I can tell you it is a very expensive operation.  The whole operation is designed to separate you from your budget – the space, the booth itself, power, T1 line, staffing, carpeting, plants, shipping and dealing with unions and their rules and rates.  All for the pleasure of standing in a tacky booth waiting for people to come by looking for free stuff and engage you with small talk.  The quality of leads of people who happen to amble by your booth can not compare with someone registering and attending your webcast – and engaging with your content. 

In many industries trade shows have an important role, but at what cost.  Buyers prefer to get content at their desks and marketers want a high return on their lead gen efforts.  Both of those trends point to the reason why webcasting is one of the fastest growing B2B marketing vehicles and it should prosper during tough economic times.

Are you a subject matter expert?  A subject matter expert is the “go-to” person for their customers and social network contacts.  These experts are seasoned professionals with references and a portfolio of proven success.  Subject matter experts get the customers, win the bids and are answering the phone rather than cold calling.

Interested in being an expert?  Then begin thinking like one.  An expert by definition is “having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience.”  In other words if you can demonstrate that you know more than most and are recognized as a leader within a community you are an expert.

In the 1980’s it could take you years to establish yourself as an expert.  With today’s social networking communities you can be recognized almost overnight.  Let’s look at two communities and how to position you and your business as leaders.

LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is established to be a business networking community.  You have the opportunity to ask questions, answer questions and participate in discussions.  The more time you dedicate to positioning yourself the more you will differentiate yourself.  Include links to your sites (blogs included) and where possible share your books or white papers on the subject.  References also speak volumes.  Anytime you can say “don’t take my word for it, read what my customers think” the more credible your opinions and suggestions become.

You can also join “like-minded” experts on LinkedIn.  These are small groups inside of the larger community that often focus on a discipline (e.g. marketing, sales, recruiting, human resources, or accounting) or on a specific interest (e.g. events, public relations, consulting).  Groups are reflected on your profile and allow people to see your affiliations and interests.

Facebook:

Facebook is different as it was set up as a social site.  Both business and personal intersect here.  You can establish multiple Facebook pages that focus on your business and on you as an individual.  You can choose to combine it all into one page.  Post notes that include article leads with links as well as highlights from your latest activities.  Changing your status to include information on where you are speaking or a presentation you may have posted will drive others to review your work.  You can cross link both Facebook and LinkedIn driving your audience from one site to the other.

There are many other sites that work much like these two (Plaxo, Namyz, MySpace).  It is possible to stretch yourself too thin with social networks.  I recommend you pick two and really focus your efforts in developing your message through your profile, references and participation (e.g. status updates, Q&A). 

The path to being an expert is clear: a well developed profile, references from your customers, participation in online discussions and building a following of contacts who are looking to drive business with you and for you.

I am sure that by now you have perfected your “about me” and “profile” pages on all of your social networks.  You have opened yourself to networking outside of your known circle and you are sending personal notes when you extend or accept invitation.  Your network of contacts has grown from hundreds to thousands of business professionals.

During this process you may have noticed that a large number of both corporate and private recruiters are looking to connect.  Recruiters are by nature active networkers.  They understand that they may meet the next great hire directly or indirectly through their network. Recruiters are experts at turning their contacts in leads.

So how do you do this?  I recommend three easy steps:

1.  Open a conversation with each of your contacts.  As I previously mentioned I respond to each invitation with a personal message.  I do have a form message that I personalize based on the profile of the individual.  I do the same with invitations.  I share what I do and what I am looking for.  I always ask for the business.  I am networking to grown my business.

2. Have “free” items available.  White papers, links to your blogs or anything that will share your expertise with the potential lead.  This is a validation process for them.

3. Set telephone calls to follow up individually.  I may spend 4-5 hours a week networking on line, but I spend an additional 8-9 hours in follow up calls and sending out information to prospective clients.

LinkedIn has added discussion functions to each of its groups.  You can send out a question or even a specific job request to the group.  This is also an excellent place for you to answer questions and position yourself as the expert in a specific area.  If in responding to a question you see an opportunity to ask for the business I often choose a “private reply” versus and open posting.  This allows me to contact the individual directly and share with them the benefits of my company and how I can assist them with their specific question or need.

Ready to jump offline and add an in person social networking option?  I recommend BNI . BNI offers everyone an opportunity to grow their business through referrals.  I use BNI to supplement by Facebook and LinkedIn communities and increase my local area leads.

Careful feeding, watering and farming of your contacts can turn your social network contacts in leads and revenue for your business. 

I’d like to introduce a new contributor to the King Fish Think Tank  - Kathleen Martin, CEO, RocketComm.  Kathleen is speaker, presenter and marketing professional with a track record for producing programs that generate revenue and exceed goals.  I have known her for several years going back to when I was running a marketing department for a traditional media company and she was a customer in her role as a communications manager for a Fortune 500 technology manufacturer.  Kathleen was one of my favorite clients because she is a master at using both new and traditional media to create ROI driven integrated solutions.  Now as CEO of her own company she is spreading her knowledge and experience with the world. – Gordon Plutsky, King Fish Media.

Driving Business Through Your Social Networks

I love to network.  I think I have been networking since I was in the third grade and introducing people to other people and looking for who had what in their lunch and who was looking to trade.  I am a bit older and I rarely find people looking to trade lunches, but I do find leads for my business and others through social network sites.   Networking online allows me to work a much larger lunch room and I make money versus Hostess cakes.

I have about 2400 contacts in my LinkedIn community and there is a fair amount of discussion on how to use LinkedIn or any social networking site to drive leads and increase your business.  I recommend that all users following five simple steps:

Understand the rules.
Social networks come with their own rules.  Be sure you understand what is acceptable in your communities.  On LinkedIn if you send an invitation to someone and they list you as “do not know” you will be unable to openly network without emails of the people you are trying to contact.  On Facebook not all of your discussions should be posted to walls, some require contact to contact messages.  You can often look at discussions posted online or in the FAQ section.

Build your profile as if you are building your website.
On LinkedIn your profile is not only a personal resume, but a resume for your business.  On Facebook you are walking a thin line of family, friends and business.  You can choose to have a personal page and a page for your business.  Keep an eye on what pictures you post on Facebook.  I cannot tell you how many small business owners loose business based on a picture they posted on Facebook (the holiday Christmas party should not be an open posting).

Start with the network you know. 
On LinkedIn you will need to just type in names in the search bar and request connections, on Facebook you can import your contacts from most webmail applications.  Add a personal note to each invitation.   Your note should include a short introduction from you, why you want to add this person to your network and why they should link to you.

Grow your contacts through open networking.
Move to the community that is available to you through your contacts.  On LinkedIn you can join the open networker groups (there are at least three) and you will receive invitations each time the new “invite me” list is shared.  On Facebook you can request anyone to be a friend, but the best way to grow quickly is to ask your friends to suggest contacts for you. 

Always ask for the business.
Anytime someone accepts your invitation or you accept theirs, follow up with a thank you note.  I suggest that you include not only your thanks, but what you are looking for business wise and ask what you can assist them with.

Wondering if it works?  I have driven more business in the last month through my LinkedIn contacts than I did on my last two direct mail campaigns.  By communicating in a personal manner both at the time of the invitation and when an invitation is accepted you create an active network.  Active networkers are open to growing business and will share leads with you if forward leads back out.   Next time we will discuss how to turn these conversations into active business.

Dear Steve Schmidt, Chief Strategist McCain Campaign,

After watching Sarah Palin light it up against Biden and draw huge crowds this weekend, I feel compelled to give some you marketing and media advice.  Love how you energized McCain and pulled ahead after the convention, but it has been all down hill since then.  The bail out timing was a bad break, and no matter what happens now it is Bush’s fault and by association McCain’s.  That may have been a tipping point in a year that should be a Democratic layup equivalent to Carter’s post-Nixon/Watergate win.  The RCP poll average has you down six, but the numbers have been volatile and may not be that accurate.  You still have a chance, time to take the gloves off and hand the ball to your point guard – Sarah Barracuda Palin. 

Your media missteps nearly killed your hottest brand, but it is not too late to salvage it with a new custom media approach.  What you have pulled off so far is impressive. As Alaska’s Governor she had no reason to be expert on issues such as internal Iranian politics, nuclear proliferation and Wall Street regulation.  You had five weeks to prepare her to debate a guy in who has been in the Senate since 1973 in front of 70 million people and you did a decent job.  However, you messed up the press relations and almost sunk her (and your campaign) by feeding her to the mainstream media on their terms.

What were you thinking?  I admit I may have given the interview to Charlie Gibson, who knew he would be a condescending ass? However, feeding her to Katie Couric was criminal.  The entire concept of network evening news is old school and a relic.  It has not been relevant or important since the 80’s.  In today’s media landscape, the consumer is in control and news is a commodity that is available on demand, 24/7 on any platform. The idea of influential people sitting down to watch 22 minutes of news at 6:30 every night has gone the way of parachute pants and knit ties.

Let’s face it, the mainstream media (MSM) is in the tank for Obama and has shown a willingness to do his dirty work by attacking McCain and Palin.  What possessed you to give into them and send Governor Palin to be interviewed by a woman who is floundering with horrible ratings and is on the verge of being fired?   Couric’s back is up against the wall and you gave her a chance to matter again – and you gave her complete control over content, camera work and editing.  You made people talk about Saturday Night Live again for the first time since the days of Eddie Murphy playing Gumby, damn it. 

Did you cave from the pressure of the MSM?  Did you actually take them seriously when they said it was the role of the media to vet candidates?  I don’t recall reading that in the Constitution.  The coastal liberal elite think that people in flyover land are too dumb to decide for their own, so it is their responsibility to decide for them.  They decided this one back in January, ask Hillary.

Here at King Fish, we have a philosophy called Private Media.  You need to own your own private media channel, not rent the old one from the MSM.  I suggest you create the Sarah Palin channel, to talk directly only to the voters that matter – swing voters in the key swing states.  Forget the traditional media of the networks and print media; you don’t need them – not a bit. They are losing significance and influence in the lives of Americans.  It is not coincidence that the networks and newspapers are the ones whose business models are most under attack.  You can get better marketing ROI handing out flyers in front of Penn Station than advertising during NBC’s new shows (hey, let’s remake Knight Rider).  The New York Times and its junior varsity team The Boston Globe have turned themselves into daily Obama campaign bulletins.  Is it any wonder their profits and stock price are declining?  The Times is cutting costs, sections and staff while losing what was left of their objectivity.

It is time to keep Palin away from these faltering outlets and have her talk directly to voters.  You will take heat for this strategy.  A hue and cry will come from people in NY, Boston, and LA who mock and hate her.  Who cares, let the NPR crowd stew over their soy lattes; you have already lost those states.  Focus on your target market – swing voters in swing states who identify with her and feel she is “one of them”.   Let the voters decide on Nov. 4th and let the chips fall where they may.

You are sitting on a pile a of cash, so buy up half hour time slots in critical local market to run infomercials and promote the hell out of them.  Create the shows as town halls where people can see Palin speak directly to voters with no media filter.  Embrace social networking to a much greater extent than you have – go viral with web video in a big way.  Enlist word of mouth marketing with PTO groups and churches in Middle America. Try some live streaming video web casts with Sarah where she can answers question directly from voters, and not from agenda driven members of the media. 

The game is well into the 4th quarter, put the ball in her hands and have her attack and bust the zone.  You can’t wait for Obama to make a mistake; he won’t, he is too good a politician.  Have her hit him hard on Ayers, taxes, and “the white flag of surrender” in Iraq.  Sarah Palin needs to take her message directly to the right voters and forget about traditional media.  The web, live events, you tube, email and word of mouth will be your media vehicles.

It still may not be enough since it seems that a slim majority of American are ready to cast their lot with Obama because he is a blank canvas to where they can project their hopes, dreams and fears.  Look on the bright side; if you and Gov Palin (or Gov. Jindal or Gov. Pawlenty) takes him on in 2012 you will have an actual Obama record to run against instead of slogans and promises.  No matter what happens over the next four years, good or bad, you can hang it on him.  It may be fun to take the easy route, it has been for Obama.

I feel like the guy at the gym with a giant walkman instead of an IPOD.  Or the weird co-worker who doesn’t have cable TV.  Yes, until this week I was not on Facebook. I am not a total stooge, and am quite active on Linked In and really enjoy it.  I was under the mistaken impression that Facebook was not for business.  I was pretty wrong – just about everyone on my Linked In list has their own page.  At the urging of several marketing colleagues and my super terrific PR agency I took the plunge.  I have spent the last few nights at home reaching out to friends and business associates and fooling around with the site.  It is a world onto itself.  Linked In is a somewhat spartan, no frills all business site.   I spoke with someone recently who told me it is one of her best sources for leads.  It does the job but kind of dull – like a Toyota Camry.

Facebook is a strange mix of your personal and business life.  I am not totally sure I like that, but everyone else seems to be having a grand old time.   There are two ways that personal and business mix.  First, I have business contacts mixed in with people from my personal life – in my case from my gym (North Shore Cross Fit has it own group page) and some friends and family.  Secondly, the site gives you the ability to express yourself in all kinds of ways – music, movies, relationships, pictures and politics.  And, everything can be commented on – lots of witty banter.  I have already engaged in some fun back and forth with some radical leftist commie friends over politics.  It is all in good fun, but does everyone else who can read it know that? 

The other strange feature is the twitter like stream of consciousness that you can post on a regular basis.  So far it has been amusing because I know some very amusing people, but what is the purpose?  Like most social networking sites, it is a freaky intersection of narcissism and voyeurism.

However, I do like being in contact with past co-workers whom I really like but never have a real reason to talk to during a busy day.  I am going to jump in and hope that King Fish gets some business benefit out of the whole thing.  I will be watching it closely, and will report on its success as a business and marketing tool.  Hey, if you come by, friend me. 

Do you remember when you were a kid and you picked your cereal based upon the toy in the box?  Remember deliberating as you walked down the very small aisle which had a reasonable amount of cereals from which to choose? Remember getting home and sticking your hand in a brand new full box of some sugary crunchies to fish out a plastic item that your mom always hoped you didn’t eat accidentally?  The toy wasn’t usually that interesting in the end game but it still persuaded you to make a brand decision. 

Things have changed in the cereal aisle and elsewhere when it comes to marketing to our kids.  First of all the cereal aisle is twice as long and has infinitely more choices.  Secondly the stakes are higher:  it’s no longer a toy, it’s an online game. Moreover, it’s not just the cereal aisle that has fun incentives and those toys are not just for kids anymore!

Welcome to Advergaming! According to Wikipedia: 

“Advergaming is the practice of using video games to advertise a product, organization or viewpoint. The term “advergames” was coined in January 2000 by Anthony Giallourakis who purchased the domain names Advergames.com along with Adverplay.com. The term Advergames was later mentioned by Wired’s “Jargon Watch” column in 2001, and has been applied to various free online games commissioned by major companies.”

I won’t blog about the whole history of the concept, suffice to say it’s been here since the beginning of this century and even if you haven’t been exposed it is likely that your kids have.  My kids love Webkinz.  “Webkinz are stuffed animals that were originally released by the Ganz company on April 29, 2005. The toys are similar to many other small plush toys. However, each Webkinz toy has an attached tag with a unique “Secret Code” printed on it that allows access to the “Webkinz World” website. On Webkinz World, the Secret Code allows the user to own a virtual version of the pet for virtual interaction.”  Webkinz are the perfect example of brand interaction but not necessarily designed to be “advertising”, more the point of the pet is to experience the virtual reality of the pet.  But whatever you call it, my kids are playing with a brand for hours if I would let them.  (Please don’t let Webkinz come out with a cereal!)

Similarly many marketers from Pepsi to McDonalds, Fruit Loops to Chips Ahoy have developed fun online games that are a true band “experience”.  The gaming world has been growing at warp speed since Pong hit the screen in the 1972.  According to a new survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, “97 percent of children and teenagers ages 12 to 17 claim to have played some kind of video game, with 99 percent of boys and 94 percent of girls saying they play games.”  Given the ability of kids, and those even the younger than tweens and teens, to navigate a variety of interfaces, it is no surprise that advertisers would jump at the chance to make branding fun.

It’s virtually impossible to find a brand who doesn’t have virtual fun associated with its products.  And don’t be deceived that play time is just for kids anymore.  Adidas, Fidelity, Toyota, Volkswagen, Stride Gum have all developed advergames.  Even Pfizer is promoting Viagra via it’s own targeted advergame.  Begging the question, are you really serious?  Grown men interacting with little blue pills on line.  What will they think of next? 
There is no doubt that advergaming is attractive to many consumers out there.  It makes sense because the goal of many advertisers is to get the target audience to spend more time with the brand, increase preference and loyalty.  This online fun allows marketers to develop their own private custom media channel and continue to restate their unique brand proposition but in a subtle and subliminal sort of way.  Imagine, finding a way to have your target market watch a channel that only ran your marketing messages and nothing else.  What would you pay for that kind of play time?

To say we’re heating up for another testy presidential election would be an understatement. This burner’s been on for months and we’re all overcooked. I loved the primaries, but by April, I was exhausted by the Democratic Party’s inability to choose a candidate, and by Mitt Romney’s embarrassing quest to purchase the White House. When it became clear that my pantsuited hero was out, I licked my wounds and placed myself defiantly in the undecided camp.

I am exactly the person both Obama and McCain want to sway to their side. Obama wants me to understand just how mentally unstable McCain is. How could he possibly not remember how many houses he owns?! McCain wants me to know how Obama himself said, in 2004, how he would not be ready to be president in 2008. How could you possibly elect such a celebrity 2008?!

But this year, something is different. Both political parties are making their pleas to me via the web, which is the information and entertainment tool I, and every single one of my peers, use more than any other medium. In past election years, I’d be lucky to catch an attack ad or two on television on the weekends. Now, it seems like I’m seeing new web videos released every few days. I’m watching as McCain compares Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, and as Obama warns us that McCain will send more troops to Iraq. I can watch them multiple times (I said can, not want to) and send them along to my friends – something that was impossible with television ads.

Of course we can’t lose sight of the fact that this is still all politics as usual. McCain might not get my vote because he keeps coming out with better videos of key Democrats sounding off about Obama’s lack of experience. The point is that they’re reaching me and I’m watching them. And on November 4, I have to make a decision.

Word of Mouth (WOM) marketing is certainly not a new sensation; in fact it’s not even a hot buzzword anymore.  The reality is that much of what began under the banner of WOM is now being spoken of in the lexicon of social media.  Blogs, Wikis, User Generated Content (UGC) and the whole social media world are really built upon many of the principles started years ago with WOM. 

No matter what you call it, there’s now an environment capable of propagating the reality of your products quality and comparative value into the marketplace at blinding speed.  All these channels of communication and exchange make information available to a larger group of people at a faster rate than at any time in history.   

Even in this world of radical transparency and information exchange, I continue to be amazed at how much energy goes into messaging and marketing that attempts to gloss over product deficiencies rather than directing more focus and resources on fixing the underlying issues.  Often the result is marketing that dooms a product to fall short of expectations and to subsequently be raked over the coals of public opinion.   This kind of thinking completely misses the opportunity to tap the exponential power of social medial and WOM and fuels those folks who love to expose faulty products and the companies who make them.

Addressing core product issues isn’t always possible for a variety of reasons.  Lack of funding, short timelines to get a product to market or a host of other factors create the need for compromises.   No product, even fantastic ones, will likely go to market without their creators secretly wishing they could have slipped in a couple extra cool features.  

In the end, it comes down to the truth of your product.  Despite great marketing, huge media buys and all the other traditional marketing trimmings, a less-than product is destined for a very short half-life these days.  In contrast, high-quality offerings taken to market with savvy use of social media/WOM channels are likely to enjoy a longer run and do so with smaller marketing budgets. 

Next time you’re planning a go-to-market strategy, don’t underestimate the marketing value of a great product.  Waiting for, or pushing for, that next feature could be the best marketing decision you’ve ever made.    
 

Of all the things that fascinate me about the web there is a special place in my heart for Wikipedia.  I am a trivia nut, so I love trolling the listings, and I get a kick out of the earnestness of the people who contribute and patrol the site (more about that later).  It is now standard practice for marketers to create a Wikipedia page for their company.  And, it has become an art form to put up a page that does not veer too much in a sales pitch to prevent being smote down by the Wikipedia gods.  I have heard from many of my marketing peers who have done battle with the self appointed defenders of truth.

Because Wikipedia is very well indexed by Google having a company page helps your SEO efforts. When you Google King Fish Media, our Wiki page comes up in the third listing after our site URL and the Think Tank blog - and it is driven over 100 visitors to our site.  If you have not ventured into these waters as a marketer, you must try it.  These types of sites are quickly replacing more traditional sorts of reference materials. 

There have been a lot of debates to the validity of the information presented, and you do need to take the facts and information presented with a grain of salt.  The dispersed and anonymous nature of the policing opens the door for people with an agenda to set the tone. 

I am fascinated by those who have taken on the duty to police the site for factual accuracy.  What is their motivation?  What drives them to do what they do?  It’s not money since they are volunteers.  Valid questions as we move into the age of user generated content – or UGC as the cool marketers are calling it.  Over on Channel V Media’s blog they wrote about a game called wikiracing where participants add information to obscure pages and see how fast they are corrected or edited.

In the name of science I inserted myself as notable resident of my hometown of Beverly, Massachusetts – as an author. I write this blog and have had a bunch of marketing articles published so I thought author was my best bet.  And, my new found fame would give my mom something to talk about at the Boynton Beach JCC.  It seemed easy enough since the current list of 26 people is pretty weak expect for some 300 year old historical figures and a few modern exceptions – Kevin O’Connor who hosts This Old House on PBS, alternative rocker Mary Lou Lord (check her out on iTunes if you don’t know her, she is great) and world famous author John Updike.  The rest were a collection of people no one has heard of unless you were related to them. 

I put myself in there alphabetically between actor Howard Petrie and television sports commentator Derek Rae - under the radar flanked by a B movie actor who has been dead for 40 years and a Scottish soccer commentator.  My fame lasted exactly 27 hours before being struck down by a wiki police person with the user name of Adj.  Adj is a serial editor who seems to specialize in trivial information about Massachusetts towns – talk about a niche.  I was of one of 13 edits Adj made that day, and one of over 500 since April.  You can visualize Adj at a desk in a cramped basement home office surrounded by reference books, cats and stacks of old newspapers - sipping a cup of tea and staring at the screen over drug store reading glasses while stamping out informational miscreants such as myself.  There must be immeasurable pleasure and satisfaction in telling the world that I am a seemingly nonnotable resident of Beverly.  However, I would wager that more people read this blog in 2008 than watched the collective works of Howard Petrie, but I’ll let it go.

Maybe the information on Wikipedia is good and can be trusted if there is any validity to the wisdom of crowds.  I am not totally sure what to make of it as a marketing tool other than you better not cross the line or the Adjs of cyberspace will be there to put you in your place – the digital dustbin of history.

A few weeks ago my Think Tank colleague Gordon blogged about the Proposition 2 ½ over ride which was soundly rejected by his city, Beverly MA.  His observations on local politics and the impact of social networking on these heated topics are characteristic of many towns who are facing tough budgetary decisions in economically diverse communities.  And my town, an upscale fishing/sailing town north of Boston, is included on that list.

I will admit it right now: I am an SUV driving, latte drinking, work-out mom with 3 kids and at least 3 jobs, only one for which I get an actual pay check.  Most of the time managing my off-springs agenda’s is a full time job.  Sometimes it’s the PTO, or church school, or the Children’s Hospital fundraisers that fill my day. Other times it’s helping my clients reach the ever-more-valuable Mom-target more effectively.  It was the years of training in media arena that prepared me best and most for my most recent 90 day job: Chief Override Mom.

Having never worked on a political campaign, nor really knowing anyone who has made it uncharted water.  But much like bringing a new product to market, there was a familiarity to our strategy. We organized ourselves by putting together a troop of talented, business savvy Mommas who brought energy and creativity to this challenge.  We had communications specialists, attorneys, web designers, teachers, real estate marketers, ad agency types, you name it.  We had representation from all kids of hard working Moms, oh yes and one dad with a great sense of humor!  Once our team was drafted we set about answering the following: How were we going to persuade a town full of real old line New Englanders (read: frugal), who are insanely proud of the “lowest” tax rate around, to approve almost $22 million to REPAIR AND UPDATE our middle school facilities?  Not even to build a new school?

This was not going to be “my mothers over ride” as we embraced new media.  What once was an old fashion effort of neighborhood signs and leaflets in your neighbor’s door evolved into a multi-platform marketing strategy.  We laid out a 90 day time plan for our communications and out reach.  We built a web site and utilized Constant Contact email newsletters to reach out to our database of supporters. We set up phone networks of parents to use word of mouth to get out the vote. We had traditional direct mail to the 45-60 year old voters who could no longer (or never could) be reached by the back pack brigade.  We created emails that were organically viral: you send it to your address book and ask those people to pass along in kind.  We added a face to face component and invited the community to events, including tours of the school itself.  Taking word of mouth marketing one step further we identified town/thought leaders and brought them literally into the boiler rooms of the school that many of them had attended in their own youth, pointing out of course that nothing had really changed in 50 years… ergo the $22 million. 

It was important to keep our eye on the opposition daily, reading of course the angry and bitter words on local town blogs and forums, which of course are attributed to no one.  As Gordon pointed out, it is much easier to be rude when you don’t have to sign your name to your rants.  We didn’t spend much time or energy trying to change the hearts and minds of the intensely opposed, it would have been futile.  We preferred to focus on educating those voters who would be impacted one way or another by this enormous decision. 

After 90 days and lots of hard work and some strategic sign holding later, we prevailed.  A real grass roots effort with some high tech twists helped us to get out enough voters to pass our over ride by a 2 to 1 margin.  What had worked was creating a private media channel to reach our target through many vehicles:  a combination of print and on-line distribution of information that helped to educate our community.  It was face to face meetings and tours that gave real urgency to our cause.  It was virtual tours online that brought the situation to life.  It was the friendly email reminders to the overwhelmed to make sure we made their daily “to do list”.  It was inviting the senior community to witness the decay of the school facilities.  It was reminding the town in local papers about the impact of a healthy school system on their property values.  All in all, it was a classic private media channel where we used compelling content to tell our story to a highly targeted audience.

I know this small town effort to fix a single school is no match for what is coming in November.  We are still low tech in our efforts compared to Obama and McCain but we sure have come along way from the bake sales and flyers of my youth.  I have witnessed organic-mom-networking 2.0.  So far I’d say it’s a powerful force of nature and one to be watched with a careful marketer’s eye.

Last week my city, Beverly, MA held an election that may offer a small preview of this November’s election.  Here in the Massachusetts we have a wonderful law to reign in government called Proposition 2 ½ passed by referendum during a tax revolt in 1981.  Here in the bluest of blue states we have a segment of people who love their taxes.  It basically states that property tax can’t increase by more than 2.5% per year, except if the people in the town vote to over ride the law for a specific reason.  In our case it was to help fund the school system that is running at a deficit due to the usual suspects – increasing teacher healthcare and pension costs, unfunded state and federal mandates and exploding special education needs.  If it passed, the average homeowner would pay roughly $190 more a year in property tax and one of the six elementary schools in town would be saved from closing. 

It was quite a battle, a real steel cage street fight.  What struck me was the anti-government venom.  It was aimed at the Mayor, School Committee, City Council, Teachers Union and anyone who even walks by city hall.  There was also a generous helping of class warfare as the working class and seniors resented the upscale moms who led the fight for the over ride.  One of the leaders of the over ride movement made the classic marketing mistake of saying it would only cost “a latte a week” to fund the tax increase.  Oh boy! Talk about not knowing your audience.  That statement became a rallying cry from the working class people who wouldn’t go inside a Starbucks on a bet.  The moms (and some dads) were dubbed the Latte Divas by the anti-tax people who fought it out on the Salem News web site message boards.  I would read the forums and the anger was palpable.  The parents were advocating raising taxes “for the children” or our property values would plummet and the city would become a slum overnight.  Opponents ranted back about how unions, the government and entitled parents were ruining America, and how they can’t afford another cent is this bad economy.  Over rides for schools usually pass in small affluent bedroom communities, but in economically diverse Beverly (pop. 40,000) it was crushed 63% to 37%.  And, a real class division opened up in once cohesive community.

It was a fascinating look at how social networking and web 2.0 tactics shaped the debate.  The pro over ride parents (Yes! For Beverly) had their own blog, Facebook page and email distributions; and the forums on the local newspaper sites became ground zero for battles pitched by people from both sides using anonymous screen names.  Some of the postings were pretty mean, and would never be said if a real name had to be attached or it was face to face.  It is much easier to work up some real anger when hiding behind a made up name that can’t be tracked.  It got me thinking about the nature of these anonymous posts which are found all over the web on all types of sites.  Does the anonymity produce true and honest feelings that are hidden by social convention, or is it an excuse to be rude.  There is something freeing about putting the usual political correctness aside, but debates can escalate quickly.  It is an interesting situation for companies who host these types of forums, especially when someone can be slandered on your site.  Monitoring your site is a must to protect your brand.

In addition, I could tell that there were some “PR plants” in there spouting the talking points from each side.  I don’t think many “average citizens” know the intimate details of municipal finance, collectively bargained teacher’s contracts and academic studies on the benefits of lower class size.  There were more than a few people with not so hidden agenda’s passing themselves off as John and Jane Q. Public.

This local battle may be a microcosm of the upcoming Presidential election. We will hear some of the same issues and charges from both sides.  Elitism and class division, education, taxation and the economy will be issues out front and center.  2008 will be the first web 2.0/social networking presidential election.  The ground war is going to move from mainstream media ads and direct mail to the web in a big way.  The blogs, video sharing sites, forums and online fundraising are going to be humming.  This may help Obama and his more youthful supporters, but the same tools can also make any scandal viral or misstep magnified.  We are in somewhat uncharted media waters, and as the cable news talking heads like to say “only time will tell”

This year’s Digital Hollywood conference in Los Angeles has been shedding light on the significant challenges marketers face as they try to lasso prospects online. By and large, the panelists have been candid about the immaturity of this medium, but have been unified in their belief that traditional advertising is waning, and providing prospects with meaningful online experiences is the cost of entry.

The panelists, most of which carried senior executive titles, provided sound bites that had me in complete agreement. Here is a sample.

During a session entitled: The Web, Social Media and Advertising: Transforming and Disassembling the World of Traditional Media and Communications, Matt Rosenberg, Group Director, Organic said that to be successful, “Brands are immersing themselves in the content experience…you need to let your brand take a backseat.” I absolutely agree, and that is a core strategy at King Fish Media, where our job is to help clients engage with prospects and clients on a far more meaningful level than brand advertising offers.

Recommended contacts who spoke at this panel:

Raquel Krouse, VP Social Media, Interpublic Emerging Media Lab
Matt Rosenberg, Group Director, Organic
Mark Lewis, Strategic Planning Director, DDB San Francisco

The next session, Bridging TV and Broadband: Strategic Relationships – Advertising, Technology and Content, took the full customer immersion concept to a different level. A senior executive from the Home Shopping Network candidly evaluated her brand, and said that the universal knowledge of her brand allowed for movement into new media platforms (Interactive TV and .TV), saying, “People at the company worried about these platforms, but with the huge brand loyalty, they go wherever the brand goes and build communities there.” We, at King Fish, describe this phenomenon as owning, not renting your own media channel – Private Media.

Recommended contacts from this panel:

Jeff Miller, President and CEO, ICTV
Fred McIntyre, SVP, AOL Video

On a separate note, I hope to never again hear these words as much as I have during the last three days: “paradigm” (thought we were done with that), “frictionless”, “zero sum game”, “net loser” and “value proposition”.

During each of these sessions, I heard frequent confirmation that intent-based vs. interruption-based communications is the most effective means for clients to communicate with their prospects and customers; custom media provides the single strongest venue to effectively achieve success with this effort.

While watching the Today Show this week it was announced that Mothers Day is officially 100 years young. In honor of this blessed event, Matt Lauer along with Donny and Marie Osmond shared that the newest reality search involved the hunt for “Americas Favorite Mother”. They explained that there were many categories to be won including: Single Mom, Military Mom, Working Mom, etc.—you get the drift. They were narrowing it down by communities and common characteristics. I was impressed at the categories they came up with. I started thinking just how many types of moms there are out there. While the whole effort was a little saccharin sweet for me initially, I warmed up when I realized that NBC was recognizing different communities of Moms and praising their unique qualities.

My essential disappointment with most communications aimed at Mothers is that we are lumped together in spite of our cultural, personal, educational and financial differences. “Mother” just casts too broad of a net. The act of giving birth defines us all, but once the pod has separated from the Mother-ship our differences begin. We have various and sometimes opposing opinions on feeding, care and nurturing of our offspring; we have diverse interests in hobbies, books, sports and life in general. And like other communities we tend to flock together by our common interests, characteristics and beliefs.

Check out CafeMom if you really want to see the blended complexion of our community. In the 33 pages of sub communities on CaféMom, there was something for everyone! There are groups based on demographics, psychographics, social activism, body type, job-related concerns, media preferences and of course, sexual interests.

Some of my personal creative and slightly strange favorites are: Anarchy Moms, Mothers Against Pedophiles (is there a group that was defined as Mothers FOR Pedophiles?), Nestlé Free Zone Moms (they don’t like Quik?), Poetic activist Moms, and my personal favorite, Pistol Packin’ Mommas. And these moms are ready and able to share tips, insights, secrets, fears and accomplishments as they related to their own sorority. Whether it was pro-breast feeding, tackling teenage depression or fitness fiends over fifty, these women communicated with each other eagerly and often. There is camaraderie among the women whose husbands don’t pay their child support. There is empathy for parents with autistic children. The social networking is fun but also therapeutic and often liberating.

Of course CaféMom is only one of thousands of sites designed for moms to meet and mingle; and it just happens to be one of my favorites. It’s the micro-networks and communities within the bigger picture that makes it rich. It’s not just a place for Moms, which it is. It’s that there is a home for all types of Moms. It’s about the specific content delivered to the participant who is passionate about a topic. The compelling mix of targeted community and content is the reason that CaféMom has experienced 507% growth from January to June of 2007. The customized experience builds affinity with the site so the average session time is almost 22 minutes. The net result is an ideal environment for targeted marketing messages.

So Pistol Packin’ Mommas rejoice! It’s Mothers Day and there is something out there for all of you! I hope that all your Hallmark wishes are NRA compliant and that you get the ammo of your dreams. For me, I am going back to the “Steals and Deals” - for Mommas who love to shop. I may not be America’s Most Favorite Mom, but I am a retailer’s perfect dream!

Starbucks has been getting beaten up this year and faces tough competition from Dunkin Donuts. Even McDonalds is taking a run at them.  One of the ways they chose to respond is a great lesson in listening to your customer and embracing a private custom media channel.  For many companies the knee jerk, old school reaction would have been to launch a “branding” campaign or hire a celebrity pitch person.  Instead Starbucks did something very cool – they launched My Starbucks Idea web site.  The purpose of the site is to ask their loyal customers what they could do to improve the product and service.  I would encourage you to go to the site and read the both the volume and passion of the responses.  The site is powered by salesforce.com and they did a similar site for Dell.  Interesting, Dell and Starbucks have a lot in common – both were innovative companies who used to be the fresh up-and-comers, and once they got too big; they lost touch with what made them great.

I commend both companies for creating a private media channel to have a two way dialog with their customers.  This kind of forum gives customers a place to vent, and make suggestion.  Read through some of them – they are not only thoughtful, but smart.  A lot of companies give lip service to listening to their customer, but how many actually do and act on it?  More than ever, people in the executive suite are isolated from their customers, where they are a long way from their middle class American customers and prospects.  Also, since they only talk to other execs, they get caught in an infinite loop of their own B.S.  How many meetings have you been in where sales and marketing people sit around pitching each other and not taking in outside information?  Happens all the time and the result: the ads we see on TV and in magazines are completely off target.

What I really like about the site is the “Ideas in Action” section where Starbuck employees respond in their own words and tell customers what action they will take based on customer suggestions.  This is powerful because many times when you write to a web site, you get an automated response which is sometimes worse than getting none at all.  I have to admit I have never been a big Starbucks fan – the coffee is too harsh and I can’t stand the ordering process.  It was fun to see that many others feel the way I do.  As a result, they are introducing a “smoother” coffee and talking about an express line for impatient people like me who just want a regular coffee; and don’t want to stand behind a line of people ordering complicated permutations of coffee beans, milk (cow or soy) and odd flavors.

Now, let’s see if they take this process one step further.  They have collected scores of contact names and been given the “permission” to talk to them about Starbucks.  I would suggest starting a real Starbucks private custom media channel to their customers using content marketing to further strengthen the bond between them and their customers.  This approach could get Starbucks back on track and make the brand fresh again.  Meanwhile, I can’t wait for the first express line open. 

Read the January 11th WSJ article entitled “The Car That Got Away” and you’ll get a sense of what my wife puts up with fairly regularly. The timing of this article was perfect: after 60 days of online hunting on enthusiast Web sites and associations for one of my favorite cars from my youth (a 1979 Toyota Land Cruiser), I found it, about 2,600 miles away from my garage in Boston. But I found it, and it’s on a truck heading east as we speak.

What was truly interesting about this process were the people I spoke with along the way. No fewer than 45, either on the phone or through email. And every one of them was as excited as I was to talk about their cars. One of them sent a pound of gourmet coffee from Seattle as a thank you for considering his ride. Many poured over our company’s Web site, and asked me very insightful questions about our business. My favorite was a couple who sent voice-over samples of some of their client work, inviting me to learn more about their studio business – and I did. That was completely cool. Others sent videos of their cars in action off road, and made sure to customize them with brief cameos, saying, “Hey Cam, hope you liked the tape – we had fun making it for you.”

Our community was quickly built, private in scope and incorporated the following media channels:
Web sites – enthusiast sites with classified advertising that sold hard

Web-based Original Video – the product in action

Email to send photos and mechanical reviews

Telephone for one-to-one Q&A

Magazines and Newsletters which invigorated the category, and brought all of us together

A customized communication approach to a unique community – at King Fish, we call that creating a Private Media channel – where buyers and sellers create dialogue with one another in trusted environments. It is efficient, it is highly measurable, and it helped me bring home an old family friend.

We often talk about Private Media in terms of for-profit corporations directly talking to customers and prospects by owning their media channel rather than renting time and space from large media companies. One of the many benefits of the private media approach is that the owner of the media channel gets to control the message – both the content and distribution.

We now see a rapidly growing movement where individuals are also creating private media channels – pretty easy with today’s Web 2.0 technologies. Between social networking sites and video sharing, anyone can create a private media channel with minimal effort.  All of the Presidential candidates are well down this road, and almost every rock star, actor and athlete worth their salt has their own Web site, myspace page, and has posted videos on YouTube for an interactive dialog with fans. While the primary motivation is promotion, it can also be used to communicate directly with fans, enabling the personality to control the message and environment while getting their message out there as fast as possible. One of the key rules of crisis management is getting the word out quickly and framing the conversation.

How many times on TV have we seen someone yell at their lackeys in anger, saying: “the press will have a field day”. (By the way, a field day is an opportunity for unrestrained activity, not a day of sports competition at school – thanks Encarta.) In the past, celebrities and companies were dependent on their PR machines pitching and spinning stories to the press and having no input as the press edits and positions the story. Once a negative story gets into the 24/7 news cycle it is well out of your hands, and indeed a field day ensues.

We are now seeing famous people taking their message directly to the people. When Rosie O’Donnell was battling ABC and Barbra Walters over her job on the View, she posted video blogs on her site for her fans and the media to pick up and replay. Rosie’s private media channel told her side of the story quicker than the Disney/ABC PR team could tell theirs. Baseball’s Roger Clemens did the same thing when responding to reports he used steroids. After a few days of silence he posted a video on his site and on YouTube to deny the allegations. He will appear on 60 Minutes this weekend, but he has already gotten his message directly to the public bypassing the 60 Minutes film editing room.

The newest private media channel took me by surprise – The British Royal Family has premiered their own royal channel on YouTube. This is where they posted the Queen’s annual Christmas message and other clips and archive footage. When one of the oldest and most traditional intuitions in the world embraces private media, it is clearly an idea whose time has come.

Consumers of media and information need to watch these videos with an attitude of buyer beware. This is an unfiltered message, which does not have the benefit of a journalistic screen – no fact checking or follow up questions.  On the other hand, there also no agenda or bias from the journalist or media company. This is especially attractive to polarizing and controversial figures such as Queen Elizabeth II and Roger Clemens. It bears watching how this trend will develop – as we can assume that more and more notable people and companies create their own private media channels.

How will the traditional media companies adapt? Will consumers put as much faith in messages directly from the sources, rather than through journalists? My guess is that we will come to expect the direct message from our actors, singers, athletes, politicians and corporations. It will be incumbent on corporations and others using private media to keep the content benefit-oriented and information rich when speaking to their customers and prospects rather than a sales pitch. With the right content, a private media channel can be more powerful than any ad or PR effort will ever be.
 

There was a report out of Gartner late last month that estimated between 46 percent and 83 percent of Internet browsers/visitors/whatever-you-want-to-call them now engage with “consumer-generated content” at least once per month.

Gartner’s definition of this content includes blogs, podcasts and wikis as well as all manner of rating systems, recommendations and user reviews.

Not surprisingly, teenagers were more likely to engage with these sorts of media. Moreover, the percentage of U.S. adults who engage in this type of content at least once a week was lower than their counterparts in either France or the United Kingdom. Gartner suggests that this may be due to the novelty factor abroad.

Separate, but similar, research from In-Stat earlier this year likewise points to an impending explosion of worldwide revenue from what it calls “user-generated content,” most notably videos you’d find on YouTube. Last year, it figures $80 million in revenue was attributable to this stuff. By 2011, however, it predicts sales of around $1.6 billion.

For creative types like myself, the sorts of people that the business side increasingly consider as just so much overhead, these numbers are both scary and scintillating.

I don’t know of any journalist, no matter whether their work takes the form of a lengthy feature article, a video dispatch, an opinion column or a review, who doesn’t love hearing from someone who is reading or watching what they have to say.

I’ve had people walk up to me in airports to take issue with something I wrote, which is a little scary from a privacy standpoint. But from a professional level, it’s a thrill. “Hey,” I think, “THEY READ ME. They care.” Because, after all, most journalists get into the profession in order to touch people, in order to share information. In the world of print, our words mostly went into this void. Lots of guesswork went on. Focus groups were conducted.

Online, of course, everything has changed. I receive daily statistics for the green technology blog (“GreenTech Pastures”) I write on ZDNet. In an instant, I can see how many people are reading about certain topics; which strike a chord and which fall flat. The rating and comment system, meanwhile, tells me if I’m doing my job thoroughly enough. Often, I will think of an entirely new subject to write about as a result of a post. Or, I’ll kick myself to do a little more research if I’m missed an angle.

In my past life as the editor of channel news publication CRN, I made more contacts as a result of my editorial columns and video Webcasts than any other activity during my close to 18 years of covering the high-tech distribution channel. Because I had opened myself up in some way, readers felt like they could approach me.

Which brings me back to the real point of this column and the question that publishers love to ask themselves when staring at spreadsheets that detail declining print advertising sales: Is this shift toward user-generated content a long-term phenomenon? Can the voice of our users/readers/visitors replace editorial resources? Can this movement be “monetized” in some way?

The answer to all of these questions, in my opinion, is a qualified “Yes.” But before you go firing all your writers and content creation folks, here are some simple realities.

As Gartner notes, many folks (especially adults) participating in the user-generated media movement aren’t actually creating what we’ve come to accept as “content.” That is, a story, or a video dispatch or a photographic montage. It’s important to remember that “content” in the user-generated media movement can be many things. It can be ratings on stories, feedback dialogues about a product or services, or about the most popular searches on a Web site. The fact is, though, people come to sites for a reason. And SOMEONE needs to be giving them that reason. We currently call those someones “editors” but they’re increasingly taking on the role of community “moderators”—monitoring feedback, analyzing trends and creating more reasons for the dialogue to continue.

Then there’s the whole matter of time. I don’t know about you, but keeping up with my Facebook profile and my LinkedIn Network contacts is very time-consuming. I visit both horribly infrequently, mainly because I have a real-life husband and a real-life hobby (a cappella singing) that takes up plenty of my non-work time. I haven’t even dreamed of setting up a MySpace page yet and my blogs (yes, plural) are challenging to update on a regular basis. Personally, I believe there is bound to be an adjustment.

Full disclosure. I LOVE magazines. I love touching them, looking through them, curling up with them on the couch. That will never change. But I also find the ongoing transition exhilarating. I feel like what I write is a better reflection of the community I’m interacting with; that, in turn, generates more feedback.

I believe that what most people look for in their media experience—an honest voice. And honesty, I believe, is what user-generated content is all about.

I confess that for me, presidential political races are right up there with American League pennant races. After 175 games or so this season with the Sox ultimately victorious over the Rockies, I can switch gears to the race for out next President.

In 1999, I worked on the John McCain campaign for the Republican nomination in Massachusetts. It was wildly interesting to be a small part of the election process, and one of my top experiences was meeting and speaking with the Senator for several minutes as he prepared to give a speech in rural New Hampshire to about 100 local citizens.

Fast forward to 2007 and an election where campaigns are increasingly fought through video and other electronic means. Some videos are professionally produced by the campaign staff and worthy of Cannes consideration and others are clips from cable TV that rely on humor to help us remember what ought to matter in a candidate - service to our country and strength of character.

 The great thing about video is that there is always another side to the candidate they hope you don’t see, but the video camera is always on and can capture awkward moments. In this example, while I like to think he was in fact reading notes, however, that may be a tough sell.

Or you could see his humor being lost on an audience of students asking about age.  On the other hand, voters are getting a raw glimpse of John McCain that they would not see on the Sunday talk shows. .

The Senator likes to talk straight, “warts and all.” And our media’s there to capture every word, every slip, every sound bite. The new web video culture gives candidates the opportunity you speak directly to the people without the filter of traditional media. It also gives campaigns the ability to post positive clips of their guy, and negative clips of their opposition. But while watching the quick-hits and sound bites, don’t forget to peel back the onion a bit, and look at the qualities of character, integrity and service in all of the candidates.

Missing old friends? Want invites to parties? How about offers to join dozens of new online social networks (all of which are stories in themselves)? Start blogging. Can’t say that we’ve been offered a custom media gig for The Who yet, but given the volume of contacts surfacing in the last 45 days, I’m holding-out hope.

At Think Tank, our staff and some interesting opinioned-types have been offering their thoughts on media and its many current offerings and applications. We’re in the business, and we live to challenge the status quo of media you can rent versus owning your own media channel. We call that Private Media, but what’s in a name? What Private Media does for marketers says it all, and the next 125 words is for those people who’ve checked in and want to hear about what’s new at the shop in Salem.

• Our events group just wrapped the Appreciative Inquiry conference where 500 attendees spent 3 ½ days in keynotes and workshops designed to spur positive change in the workplace. Fascinating subject, and powerful speakers. Click here to read what my fellow blogger Gordon Plutsky has to say about the event.

• Webcasts have evolved beyond straight-forward audio and video platforms; the duration is shortening, content is punchier, and other platforms are deployed that include interactive PDFs, virtual tradeshows and even more engaging uses of video. Cool and smart stuff.

• We’re currently conducting a phone and interactive survey for 100 customers of a King Fish client for a comprehensive market research project. This formidable media company has outsourced this significant custom media program to us to determine who makes the cut for an important performance-based award ceremony next quarter. Brilliant use of Private Media to maximize employee retention.

Recent King Fish acknowledgements by Entrepreneur and Inc. magazines confirm that our approach is working, and that our clients are benefiting from this fresh method of assessing business challenges. There’s the update – and onto a request: for any old contacts stopping by Think Tank, please feel free to invite me to any of the following social networks from my past:

• The guys who get 69 GTO convertibles
• Small bars/clubs where the best music still lives
• My sailing friends from PLP (1976-1979)
• A place I can lose myself laughing again with Gardner, Rich, Jamie, Jon, Woozie,  Spike and JB
• An online community for all of us tortured by my 1st grade swimming teacher.
 

There I was, in my local toy store, with my son who was in the process of potty training. Can I tell you how much I have spent in that toy store? I have shopped in this store over and over again, not only for my three children, but for the countless number of friends who have invited us to equally numerous birthday parties. If shoppers were frequent flyers, I was a platinum purchaser.

After walking around for the obligatory pace lap, my son announced to the entire store that he had to “go potty”. Of course I said to the woman behind the counter, with my hands full of Polly Pockets, baby dolls, a t-ball set and a model sailboat, “Can my son please use your bathroom?”

“No, I am sorry, we don’t have one” she replied.

“You don’t have a bathroom?” I said just loud enough for all the other mothers to hear, slightly sarcastically?

“Well… um. Er. Actually we only have a bathroom for employees, not customers.” 

My son was by now whining, creating quite a scene, and with the same frustration that I have experienced with slow or unresponsive online stores, I abandoned my shopping cart. I left it full and unpurchased. I left it and never went back. I called every mom I knew and told them about the injustice and in solidarity we all agreed to not shop there again. I ran into a mom at the playground later that week, who unbeknownst to me, had also been in the store at the time of the scene. She too abandoned her arm-cart in sympathy, but not without giving the woman a piece of her mind.

Moral to the story for smart marketers: Don’t make us mad. Maybe it’s not your bathroom, maybe it is your return policy. Maybe it is your message. Maybe it is the challenge of finding what we want with facility. Maybe it is just your customer service or your tone of voice. But don’t make us mad. Our sisterhood is extensive and we know how to use it to help us and to punish you for your bad behavior.

By the way, it works both ways: we are quick to embrace and reward the vendors and service providers who speak to us with respect; help us save time and money; make it easy to do business with; and of course, let our little guys use their potties.

Last March, my family was skiing with a large group in Vermont. My thirteen year old son (who spends his time pursuing either speed or jumps of some nature) broke his wrist on our last afternoon. We made it to the local hospital about 7:00pm, and he was in a cast and home by 9:00. I had noticed he was unusually anxious about the time, and about getting out of the hospital, so naturally I presumed he was in pain, and that he needed to get back to the security of his home and family. Wrong.

Walking in the door, he went straight to YouTube, where he searched for and quickly found video taken that afternoon of him and his friends on Sugarbush. It had been about five hours since the accident, and there it was: 5:45 minutes, edited with audio by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and complete with opening and closing graphics. And the director/editor (also 13) had to drive three hours to get home. The most amazing part of this—there were already 350 views of the video.

User-generated content is a reality of all age groups. Kids rely on it for entertainment value, adults rely on peer groups for advice, and businesses rely on their own customers for testimonials to prospective new customers. Virtually no other form of content has been so universally adopted in such a short timeframe.

Of course, there are risks when you let content be posted with minimal screening, and you know what they are. But does it also enhance a brand’s perceived confidence by not over-editing or censoring content generated on their site? Are prospective customers more likely to purchase a particular item of clothing or energy drink because it was featured on a free video spoof and was viewed 3mm times? Looks like the shift is on and yes, that is exactly what’s happening.

Take YouTube phenomenon Tay Zonday, whose song “Chocolate Rain” has generated 7,600,000+ views in four months and is available for download?. Then, look at how many others are already parodying this song (although the beat is excruciating, watch “Vanilla Snow” right after “Chocolate Rain” for an excellent laugh; currently, Vanilla Snow has received about 1mm views), and you get a feel for the power of user generated content. It’s a quirky approach to custom media, but with significant views daily, you can be confident it’s rattling the sensibilities of traditional media companies too stubborn to feel the new wind blowing.

When 13 year-olds are living for free, user-generated content, it’s time to pay attention to the new face of media that has arrived. And marketers in the world of custom media have got to harness the platform and drive their clients to make smart deployment of the medium to remain relevant.

The 2008 race to replace President Bush is well underway, and it bears watching how the candidates will be using media to get their message to voters.  I think we will start to see them move further away from the traditional ads of the past and start to embrace Private Media—taking directly to the voters using their own media channel. Traditional political advertising on TV and radio is dreadful. There are basically two types of ads—the “pro” ad where the candidate stands in front of a flag on a factory floor or farm and proclaims he is for all that is good and holy, especially lower taxes. The ad usually ends with a posed shot with his Stepford wife and 2.5 perfect kids. Then we have the “negative” ad, where a candidate is beaten up for some past vote or comment (usually twisted from the real facts) and is shown is the most unflattering picture they can find—usually in a grimace. They are all the same no matter which side runs them, and I would guess people tune them out and don’t pay attention anymore.

I think we will see the major candidates bypassing traditional media and speaking directly to potential voters. The Sopranos parody Hillary Clinton put on her site is just one of many ways the candidates are using blogs, social networking sites, You Tube, email and meetups to talk directly to the people and not going through the filter of traditional media. I am sure they will still spend obscene amounts of money on the public airways, but the tide may be changing.

It will be interesting to watch who will use Private Media more effectively. For the past 20+ years, the Republicans have been much better marketers than the Democrats.  Modern campaigning is no different than the latest marketing campaign to sell a car, new movie or fashion. The GOP has been just flat out better at TV ads, direct mail, database mining, and they own talk radio, which is just another form of ad driven entertainment.  Laura Ingraham and Bill O’Reilly may want Hollywood to shut up and sing, but they are in the same business as Susan Sarandon and Alec Baldwin—show business. (more about that in a future posting)

Just a hunch here, the Democrats will do a better job of exploiting private media and web 2.0 technologies. Those talents and technologies skew younger and to a more diverse generation. Will Private Media propel the Democrats to the White House; or will they find a way to blow an election that is their’s to win? We will be keeping our eye on this over the next 18 months- right now it is anyone’s to win.

Social Networking may be one of the hottest Web business models today. MySpace and Facebook have attracted tens of millions of young people, and increasingly, professionals. Many media companies are now making plans to enter the market for social networking for professionals or professional networking as I would call it.  

Recently I began using the LinkedIn site. My first connection was sent to me by a colleague who is working for a struggling company that is laying off people by the truckload. I signed up and soon received many more LinkedIn requests from colleagues who were recently cut loose from that company; and are looking for jobs or going the freelance/consultant route. In today’s world of rapid change and “no loyalty” everyone needs to keep an ear out for new opportunities. You never know when the bell tolls for you. The base need of money, career growth and survival drives LinkedIn the way hormones drives the social networking sites of the young.  

A more proactive aspect of LinkedIn is to seek out sales prospects and partners who can help drive your business, which is how I am using it. Within the space of a few weeks I have collected roughly 155 contacts in my network. (That makes me small time compared to the people Portfolio found in this recent article – one guy has 50,000+ contacts)  

A third of my list is current co-workers; partners and clients whom I talk to on a daily basis, but nearly two-thirds are past colleagues. While it is fun to re-connect with old friends, I do believe business will come from these renewed connections. I have a current colleague who was skeptical that online social networking would catch on among us “serious” professionals.  Once he saw my growing list he jumped in and is hooked. After getting in touch with some high powered business contacts, his skepticism is fading away.  

I think online professional networking is about to take off in a big way. This movement represents a new opportunity for media and advertising. These sites are sticky, and have great upscale demographics. Currently on LinkedIn, I see ads from Microsoft, BlackBerry, Equifax and Google Ad Words being served. Are social networking sites on your media buy?  Let me know what you think.