ANA Marketing Maestros

Social Media Predictions in 2009

By Irina Skaya

I love all things social media. I am always fascinated by how social media evolves each year. One of the best ways to look at the evolution of marketing is what businesses did in the past that they will do differently in the future? So what awaits us in 2009?

How will the economic downturn impact our decisions in social media marketing? How will measuring success of engagement change? How the Obama's 'social media presidency' influenced social media in general?

 

I stumbled upon this great, 'Social Media Predictions 2009' presentation on Slideshare.com that includes some fresh and forward-thinking ideas by well-respected thought leaders in the industry.

 

Feel free to let us know if your company is already implementing some of these changes.

View more presentations from Taly Weiss.

How Great Marketing Led Barack Obama to the White House

By: Irina Skaya

Today, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44^th president of the United States. Successful Internet marketing is the cornerstone of the 2009 historic inauguration. How did Obama connect with today’s diverse general market? How do we as marketers engage, inspire and motivate today’s consumers?

History was made when Barack Obama was elected President, but his win is beyond historic – his superb use of online marketing to promote awareness and create a loyal following has earned him AdAge’s Marketer of the Year award at the ANA Annual Masters of Marketing Conference. It also became be the template which all future presidential campaigns will draw inspiration from.  

Thomas Jefferson was the first President to use newspapers to promote his presidential campaign, Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first to use radio, John F. Kenny used television. Barack Obama is the first president to have the power to leverage Social Media in such a way as never seen before by our Presidency or Government as a whole.  

The secret behind any successful marketing campaign is to put yourselves in the shoes of the consumers. Sure, his multiracial and multicultural background represents today’s generation, but Obama has also appointed the best marketing staff that represents and knows its target market inside and out. That’s why his campaign has embraced social media. Youth vote had a major role to play in the landslide victory, and the role of the internet - the living space of the youth. His inspirational message of “change has come to America" has remained consistent throughout the presidential campaign. This message became even more important in the economic downturn.

On February 12^th, Jim Margolis, Senior Advisor to the Barack Obama presidential campaign will discuss the power of social media and share lessons from Obama's campaign at the TV & Everything Video Forum.

TV widgets...upcoming trend of 2009?

By: Irina Skaya

Apparently, widgets are taking on a new life--they are now coming to a TV near you! And who is behind this revolutionary thinking? Yahoo! in partnership with Samsung, Sony, LG Electronics and VIZIO announced their launch of an internet widget-based function for the TV, this week at the CES conference. The idea behind this Widget Channel is to develop mini-applications that can complement TV viewing with information from the Internet, providing viewers with relevant and targeted information while enhancing their television watching experience. Widget Engine combines key attributes of the Internet, including openness, community, and personalization, with the power of television.

This is great for advertisers because the widget could allow users to purchase products advertised on TV from online store. There are several applications planned such as MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, eBay, CBS, Netflix, Blockbuster, New York Times and various Yahoo! widgets.

We all know that despite the rise of the Web, TV is not going anywhere. People still spend more time watching television than they do on the Internet. TV widgets is a great way to converge the two. For instance, MySpace users will be able to access the widget using a remote and type message to their friends using an on-screen keyboard. Flickr users will be able to share photos with family and friends or watch a slideshow on their TV screen. Many of the widgets are still in the development process, but you can preview them here.

Yahoo's is "Purpling it Up" It's Marketing Efforts

By: Irina Skaya

Marketing buzz is difficult to achieve, and not all products can be the next Harry Potter, or the Volkswagen New Beetle. Yahoo! is redefining the meaning of purple with its new viral marketing campaign, “Start Wearing Purple.” Contrary to the popular belief that purple symbolizes royalty, Yahoo! attributes the color to innovation and imagination.

Startwearingpurple.com includes features such as "Celebrate Purple", "Purple Pranks", "Pioneers of Purple" and "Purple Picks.” “Pioneers of Purple” showcases mini-documentaries of influential personalities who epitomize individuality and innovative spirit of purple, a color that's been core to Yahoo!'s DNA since it began.

From purple bikes with built-in solar power cameras and funny videos to purple sneakers and Ts, the web portal is engaging and has the potential to create buzz, but will this brand awareness campaign drive Internet users from its competitors to the soon-to-be launched new Yahoo! site?

Check out how Yahoo! is 'purpling it up' through their Purple Pedals project.

The Agency of the Future Is?

by Mark Fogelberg

Yesterday evening brought me to Mediabistro's "Advertising: The New Creative Agency" event. Speaking to a crowded house um theater er gallery were 7 bright minds of the business:

As I am steadily working on new media / new technology / new way-of-doing-business projects, I expected the event would offer strong discourse and was proven right. From interactive media spend to UGC to YouTube to product placement to digital usurping other media - quite a lot was discussed.
 

The questions moved across a range but one constant appeared. Breakthrough digital creative is still very hard to do very well. One panelist, Trevor Kaufman of Schematic, put it quite well when he stated that online offers the opportunity for bespoke ideas. (Anyone who has priced a Saville Row suit to a off-the-rack alternative should be able to sympathize.)

Plus, great digital efforts are labor intensive, demanding a large investment in production line items. If production dollars are still be seen as "non-working" dollars (in the context of media), then investment equations looked skewed.

 

Meatball "Mon"dae - Embracing New Media

By: Irina Skaya

Last Thursday, I attended Seth Godin’s presentation at NYU based on his latest book called, “Meatball Sundae Is Your Marketing Out of Sync?”  I always knew that the owner of the world’s most popular marketing blog site and the best-seller author of nine marketing books is smart, but hearing from him in person was invaluable, inspirational and enlightening.

What’s a meatball sundae?

“[The combination of] meatballs and sundae are meant to be disgusting. If you use new marketing, the topping [the fudge, the cherry] just as a spin, you will fail,” Seth said as he slammed out one sound bite after another.

The Meatballs represent the 100 year-old marketing model which means interrupting the market and selling average products made for average people. The fudge and the cherries of the sundae are the toppings, which represent new marketing: blogs, YouTube, Google, Facebook, Wikis, widgets, etc. Meatballs and sundae are two things that don't mix, like just like new marketing and old marketing.

Seth raised some thought-provoking questions:

In the 1980’s, TV Guide sold for more money than ABC, CBS and NBC were worth all together. Today, how come when I go online to look for video - I go to YouTube and not TV Guide?

In the 1990’s America Online became popular because of e-mails and chatrooms, how come when I go online to find friends I don’t go on aolbook?

He then cited Josiah Wedgwood, an English potter who built an efficient factory organization during the Industrial Revolution, to emphasize if you change the media, and the organizations will change too.

Lessons learned:
• To drive sales revenue, marketers must restructure the marketing organization from top to bottom. 
• Embrace the medium, [referring to SEOs] NOT fight the medium.
• If you can own a variety of choices - you win. For example, iTunes get their reveunue from titles that cannot be purchased at any record store.
• Marketers need to establish a direct communication between themselves and the consumers-the more the consumer interacts, the better the company does.
• Authentic stories matter! Stories that work spread, stories that spread are true; stories that are true are authentic.
• If a marketer is trying to solve a problem people do not have, they are INVISIBLE. You cannot spam yourself to success!
• In the Internet Age, it doesn’t matter how many viewers will see your ads, but who the viewers are.

Got Meatballs?

Technorati tags: Seth Godin new media meatball Sundae

What if the Bottom Fell Out?

by Mark Fogelberg

It wasn't too long ago that Google's revenue growth trajectory seemed comically cosmic. Quarter over quarter increases in excess of 40% were the norm. Revenue from Sponsored Results and AdSense have allowed the company to fund its entry into a number of areas.

Were it not for its motto, "Don't be evil", I would wonder how Google would allow an entity such as CustomizeGoogle to exist.

CustomizeGoogle (CG) is a Firefox browser add-on that basically allows the web browser to take full control of their Google experience. This includes removing all of the ads on search results pages! While I understand that Firefox represents a minority share of the browser market and CG has a small(ish) user base, Google is walking away from respectable numbers of ad impressions (and potential clicks).

Yes, ad avoiders are ad avoiders but TV commercial audio follows you to the kitchen; magazine ads switch from left page to right page opposite editorial; DVRs require button pressing to skip commercial pods. This technology completely removes the ads. Period.

(a search for a color laser printer with ads on)

(and without the ads - check out the white space)

So, what if in the future Firefox ended up with a majority share of the browser market and CG were a built in? How could Google cope? I can't answer those questions but I would imagine that the brains at Google must have answers on how to capitalize on lost revenue opportunities.

It would be jarring to most interactive marketers if the bottom fell out of Adwords. But since Google owns little, old YouTube (59 million monthlies and counting) and, as of today, Doubleclick (see the press release), it seems likely a sturdy, new floor could be built.

Brand Yourself For Career Success

By Irina Skaya

As Bob Dylan once sang, “The times they are a-changin’.” In addition to the acceleration of baby boomers, globalization and the changing media landscape, the workforce’s organization is undergoing reconstruction. For example, emerging technologies such as Blackberry, Wi-Fi and mobile phones, which created a “work anytime, anywhere” mentality are blurring the boundaries between personal and work life. A 9-5 work schedule hardly exists for most people and soon, with the help of social technologies, we’ll be working 24/7. As you continue to work from remote location and for increasing amount of hours, your personal brand must be powerful and strong enough to impact your employers. 

In this increasingly competitive marketplace, personal branding is just as important as corporate and product branding. Personal branding does not mean the shameless self-promoting, where one toots his/her own horn and spends working hours to update their MySpace profile. Personal branding means you will be able to clearly communicate your unique promise of value that you have to offer. With the ad-vent of social media, many employers will, “Google” the prospective candidates or look up their profiles on Facebook, Linked In, and other social networking sites. So, being good or having a great resume is no longer enough to succeed. Now, it is important to have strong search-engine visibility and brand recognition.

What is the secret formula of successful branding? According to Dixon’s and Arruda’s Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand, the three C’s: clarity, consistency and constancy are key.

• Clarity – be clear about who you are and what you are not; understand your unique value
• Consistency – continuously expressing your brand with different communication vehicles
• Constancy – always keep your brand visible
 
They also highlight the importance of networking with your targeted audience. Instead of communicating your brand to the entire world, it is crucial to convey your brand to a targeted group of individuals who will help you achieve your career goals. The easiest way to brand yourself is through the Internet. You can use several online identity tools to build your brand:

• Join the blogosphere
• Create a web portfolio
• Prove yourself, not just say you can things: show articles, awards, white papers, video, press re-leases, schedule of speaking engagements, etc.
• Use online networking sites

From politicians and entertainers such as Barack Obama and Oprah, strong branding is crucial for their success. In the age of social networks and user-generated media, self-branding is no longer just for the wealthy and the powerful; it is also important for career-driven individuals.

Technorati tags: self-branding personal branding career development social networks

YouBama and the Next Wave of Political Advertising

By: Irina Skaya

In light of President’s Week, I want post about the 2008 primary state of affairs as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton slug it out for the presidential nomination. There are several things that interest me about this particular election, and it’s not the potential win of the first woman president nor the first black president. After all, we already had a black man and a white woman on the presidential ticket - Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988, and Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. What is is unique about this election is the viral online marketing campaign Obama has created. According to Time Magazine, no other campaign has tapped into social networks so aggressively, nor used the Internet to leverage the financial power of small donors.

Earlier this month, Obama scored highest among Democratic voters, ages 18-30 in the New York primaries. Why is Obama so popular among young voters? Is it because today’s generation of voters is colorblind or is it the emotional connection that Obama has created with them through social networking communities?

In one of his recent speeches, Obama stated that he wants to get people excited about politics again. I think he will achieve that--Obama is finding innovative ways to create a personal connection with potential voters, and to raise campaign dollars, using online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. On Facebook, Obama has five times the number of Clinton supporters. Obama’s nearly 5-minute video response to President Bush’s “State of the Union” address became the most viewed video in the world. His own Website also features a community where potential voters may organize their friends, neighbors and networks. Members can build their own profile, form affinity groups, host events, write blogs, and, of course, donate money to his campaign. Obama even has his own user-generated channel called YouBama that features Obama supporters spreading the word on why he should be the 44th president.

Check out this powerful video, "Yes, we can" released by Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am, featuring a wildly diverse cross section of celebrity supporters:

Google trends show that in the last couple of months, the search volume for “Barack Obama” has exceeded the search volume for “Hillary Clinton.”

His online campaign has not only earned Obama $5 million more in donor dollars than Clinton’s fundraising efforts, but also allows him to gauge the pulse of his audience and know where to steer his campaign. So, who will win the democratic nomination? The candidate with a recognized brand name and relevant experience or the fresh face candidate who has superseded traditional advertising with buzz marketing, and as a result, leads the primary fund raising race?

Technorati tags: viral marketing 2008 presidential election Barack Obama Hillary Clinton social networks

Pondering Podvertising?

By: Irina Skaya

My daily 50-minute commute to work from Brooklyn to Grand Central station usually consists of reading the Daily News or more recently, listening to news podcasts on my iPod.  It is especially entertaining during the times the conductor holds up the train because of “the red signal ahead of us.” It makes time tick faster and feels like we’re moving sooner than we actually are. 

What moves me most about Podcasting is the convenience of portal media that allows me to download my favorite shows to my iPod and time-shift my listening to when it is best suitable for me, like on my way to work.  Today, consumers of Podcasting demand better content and a better personalized experience when they want. The shift in control from marketers to consumers are altering the way we approach marketing.

Podvertising is great tool for forward-thinking advertisers who want to try their hands at alternative media.  Podvertising allows marketers to target their niche audience and prevent ad avoidance at a small cost. Users are unlikely to fast-forward through your ad because they've already subscribed to the podcast and usually, do not mind listening to a 15-second ad. Also, with podcasting, small companies who could not afford to advertise on the big screen have the opportunity to reach their target audience.

How do you start advertising on Podcasts?

1. Sponsorships: sponsor a couple of target podcasts. For example: Gatorade sponsors Endurance Radio.
2. Offer giveaways and promotions: offer discounts and prizes in order to entice the listeners and prevent ad avoiders.
3. RSS feeds: You can time your podcast to be on your site at the same time as a new product launch. When people search for your info on your new product, your podcast will be in those results. If a user likes what he hears, he may decide to not only listen, but subscribe as well.
4. Produce Your Own: create your own podcast, featuring an audio informercial, video demo for new products, audio/video press releases about your product, etc.  Consumer-packaged-goods companies may use podcasts to enhance consumers’ lives and to build a connection with them. For instance, IBM produces podcasts on key business and technology topics. 

There is a great video on Podvertising that I couldn't insert here, but can direct you to. 

Don't underestimate the power of Podvertising! According to eMarketer, podcasting advertising will increase by 400% by 2011.